Knight of the Burning Pestle
Friday March 7 we presented The Knight of the Burning Pestle by Francis Beaumont. It was a strange little play, and I am glad to be done with it despite loving our director, Vivian Munn. Our final product was a lot less polished than our Agamemnon. The sheer burden of line learning for this play was the most overwhelming challenge, which is sad considering the real acting happens once you know your lines. The language is OLD; the play was written/performed in 1607. Most of the difficulty with the text came from the endless sentences that used a million commas and inverted sentences. It was really difficult to assimilate the language patterns and the way the characters think through what they say with my modern rhythms of speech and thought. Plus - we each played 4+ characters, so it's not just figuring out how 1 character thinks, I had to figure out 5-7 characters and switch rapidly between them. It was a good exercise in brain overstimulation.
Our professors came to the show and had a small feedback session afterward. They were (rightfully) more critical of this presentation than they were of Agamemnon. Unfortunately, the feedback remarks are still given VERY generally to the whole group. There is little to no opportunity to ask for individualized feedback. I find this incredibly frustrating. We were told things like "Two of you have such and such bad habit," and then not told which two people suffer from said bad habit. Silly, in my opinion.
Our professors came to the show and had a small feedback session afterward. They were (rightfully) more critical of this presentation than they were of Agamemnon. Unfortunately, the feedback remarks are still given VERY generally to the whole group. There is little to no opportunity to ask for individualized feedback. I find this incredibly frustrating. We were told things like "Two of you have such and such bad habit," and then not told which two people suffer from said bad habit. Silly, in my opinion.
The Bogos Take London*
*Disclaimer, most of these photos are my mom's (Thanks Mom!)
As I was wrapping up Pestle, my family was flying across the pond to see me in London! We met at the DoubleTree West End and were promptly greeted with warm cookies upon check in (the BEST part about staying at a DoubleTree!). We began our day by walking to RADA, where I introduced my family to the lobbies (really glamorous and exciting, I know).
As I was wrapping up Pestle, my family was flying across the pond to see me in London! We met at the DoubleTree West End and were promptly greeted with warm cookies upon check in (the BEST part about staying at a DoubleTree!). We began our day by walking to RADA, where I introduced my family to the lobbies (really glamorous and exciting, I know).
RADA was followed by a trip to Le Pain Quotidien - my new favorite restaurant. Mostly, I would just like to have their hazelnut butter on tap at my house. It was amazing.
Then I got to show everyone my tiny little cell at Nido. While itty bitty, I made sure it was spotless for the "Mommy inspection." Teehee!
Then I got to show everyone my tiny little cell at Nido. While itty bitty, I made sure it was spotless for the "Mommy inspection." Teehee!
We then meandered over to Westminster Abbey (closed except for worship on Sundays, damn) and Big Ben.
So, our first room at the Double Tree was perfectly nice except the toilet leaked and the maintenance team couldn't fix it. Cue us trying to finagle a deal out of the hotel bureaucracy. We ended up with a HUGE 2 story room AND 6 free Double Tree cookies and tea in the hotel bar. Here's how we feel about that:
It is here that I must draw post #1 to a close. I have to wake up at 3 am tomorrow morning to catch a flight to SWITZERLAND! I am quite the jet setter here, I know. Anyhow - posts about France, Holland, and Switzerland to come sometime before I get home from London. With beginning our new play, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, this week, there won't be much free time again for a little while.