Tuesday: Nick procured cheap tickets for the 8 of us to see the trio of Samuel Beckett plays at the Duchess Theatre. Not I, Footfalls, and Rockaby are each 1-woman plays which, together, run about an hour in performance. Just one actress tackled all three works. She was amazing. Not I is particularly strange and challenging. The monologue is to be performed as quickly as possible. Beckett wanted it performed in 11 minutes. The fact that this actress could do it in 14 is a record, I believe. Only the actress' mouth is illuminated for the entirety of the piece. It is hard to focus on and your brain plays tricks on you. Is her mouth moving? Wasn't she 10 feet to the left 2 seconds ago? They even blackened the exit lights in order to complete the effect of the lit mouth amidst oppressive clouds of darkness. It is a really interesting piece. You can watch it here. I don't necessarily encourage you to watch the whole thing, but you can get a sense of it.
Wednesday: We were assigned RADA Buddies and had a little mixer to get to know the RADA students. They were very nice, but the experience itself was rather unremarkable. What was remarkable, however, was the opening night of RADA's production of DH Lawrence's The Daughter in Law. The actors were stunning, and I was very impressed. I think it is the best show I have seen since arriving in London. The performances were very truthful. I can't believe that some of the actor are just a couple years older than I am. It reminds me a) how difficult acting really is and b) how much more I have left to learn! They were inspiring, and I can't wait to see Ibsen's The Woman From the Sea, which also opens at RADA this week!
Wednesday: We were assigned RADA Buddies and had a little mixer to get to know the RADA students. They were very nice, but the experience itself was rather unremarkable. What was remarkable, however, was the opening night of RADA's production of DH Lawrence's The Daughter in Law. The actors were stunning, and I was very impressed. I think it is the best show I have seen since arriving in London. The performances were very truthful. I can't believe that some of the actor are just a couple years older than I am. It reminds me a) how difficult acting really is and b) how much more I have left to learn! They were inspiring, and I can't wait to see Ibsen's The Woman From the Sea, which also opens at RADA this week!