Anyhow, Shadowland follows a girl who gets sucked into a land of shadows, ends up with the head of a dog, and has a lot of really weird encounters with strange shadow creatures along the way. The dancing was amazing and the shadow work is stunning. It allows them to create almost cinematic depth and perspectives. Technical feats aside, though, I didn't enjoy the production. The story was too strange, and I didn't understand what the point was. I didn't know what they wanted you to feel at the end. The Shadowland was scary and esoteric, but then they would interrupt the headiness for cheap laughs. It was like watching somebody trying really hard to be whimsical. Whimsy just can't be forced.
On Tuesday March 18, I went to see Pilobolus dance comapny's Shadowland. Pilobolus is a ground breaking modern dance company that is some of the main inspiration for Inlet Dance Theatre, where I danced last summer. You may have seen them perform at the Academy Awards a couple years ago - they're the weirdos rolling around the floor and forming shadow sculptures out of their bodies behind a screen. They did something for March of the Penguins and then made a giant, human Oscar shadow.
Anyhow, Shadowland follows a girl who gets sucked into a land of shadows, ends up with the head of a dog, and has a lot of really weird encounters with strange shadow creatures along the way. The dancing was amazing and the shadow work is stunning. It allows them to create almost cinematic depth and perspectives. Technical feats aside, though, I didn't enjoy the production. The story was too strange, and I didn't understand what the point was. I didn't know what they wanted you to feel at the end. The Shadowland was scary and esoteric, but then they would interrupt the headiness for cheap laughs. It was like watching somebody trying really hard to be whimsical. Whimsy just can't be forced.
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Knight of the Burning PestleFriday 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. 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). 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! 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.
Cat, Bridgette, and I spent the night in Covent Garden after school. It has already been a long stressful week (yes, I know it's only Tuesday), so it was great to get out and interrupt the daily toil of line memorization. First stop was a little Vietnamese restaurant for dinner followed by frozen yogurt at Snog. We quickly befriended the really, really attractive employee, Jim, and then learned he is an actual Abercrombie model. Not only did he know where Ohio is, he had been there (for an Abercrombie photo shoot). Not only was he super friendly, he gave me a loyalty card. Now I HAAVE to go back!
As exciting as that was, what followed was even better: an evening at the theatre to see Angela Lansbury as Madam Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit! Needless to say, she was amazing and just as Mrs. Potts-esque as you would hope. The show was incredibly well done and very funny. We were way up in the balcony, but I have almost given up all preoccupation with good seats when you can get them as cheaply as I do. The entire ensemble did a great job. P.S. Just added Urinetown to my list of shows I will be seeing while I'm here! We love deals from TimeOut London! We got out of class yesterday at 4:15, a whole hour and 45 minutes early! We took full advantage of our extra time to do some adventuring and found ourselves at Harrods, land of EVERYTHING. It was beautiful and stunning and, honestly, words can't do it justice. The ostentatia (if that's not a word, it should be) was overwhelming - red carpet worthy dresses, sumptuous leather, gourmet shoes...not to mention the £19.95 smoking ice cream sundae (see photos). The whole store makes you wonder what you would have to do for a living to actually afford to shop there on a regular basis. It was really cold today as we browsed Camden Market. We didn't buy anything since we couldn't take off our coats to see if things would even vaguely fit. Maybe we'll go back when it's warmer out! I FINALLY went out! After weeks of being in London, I finally experienced some of the night life. On Valentine's Day! Bridgette, Cat, and I went to see The Lady From the Sea at RADA. It was brilliant. I think I liked it better than The Daughter in Law. Lady... is by Ibsen and is therefore very naturalistic. Like A Doll's House, it explores a wife's unhappiness in a marriage. It is hard to explain because it is so layered and complex, but it was a beautiful production (Even the scene changes were enjoyable to watch!). It was a very passionate show, and the actress who played Ellida, the wife, was stunningly unstable.
After the show ended, we hung out at the RADA bar until it closed. Then, we headed over to another bar frequented by RADA students. It was really fun! They had good music and a dance floor, and I am finally starting to meet some more RADA students. We stayed there that bar closed. I, as the only sober person in our caravan, was ready to go home, but others were dead set on going clubbing, so I decided to stick around for the adventure. We ended up at KOKO in Camden. It was...interesting. I spent a lot of my hour there distracted by how cool the architecture was and jostled by a huge number of tightly packed writhing people on the dance floor. It was definitely worth the experience, but I'm not sure it's something I'll do again. Anyway, I"m glad to have been the sober voice of reason for the group for at least part of the night. I feel like someone has to be that person. Just bought incredibly cheap tickets to see Angela Lansbury as Madam Arcati in Noel Coward's Blythe Spirit. She won the Tony for this role in 2009. I am so excited! We also got tickets to see Pilobolus dance company. They are incredible and are an inspiration to Inlet Dance Theatre, where I danced last summer. Ah! SO many good performers to see in this city.
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! Saturday morning, determined to see some good theatre, Bridgette and I woke up at 6:15 and headed out to queue for Matilda the Musical. Just like rush tickets in the US, most big London theatres offer dirt cheap tickets IF you get a good spot in the line that forms early in the morning in advance of the opening of the box office. While waiting for several hours, we befriended several girls in line behind us who are studying at the British American Drama Academy (BADA) from USC. It turns out that we share several professors! They were extremely nice, and I hope that we will meet up with them again before we leave the city. After hours of waiting, Bridgette and I did procure the last two tickets to that evening's performance of Matilda! Unfortunately, we didn't get the £5 tickets, but we had woken up at 6:15 in the morning and, by god, we were going to see that play! Also unfortunately, the girls behind us in line weren't able to get tickets, but I think they saw another show, so all is well that ends well. Matilda was STUNNING. The little girl who played Matilda, Georgia Pemberton, is not yet 11, but carries the show with whimsy, spunk, and a phenomenal voice. The chorus of children are really outstanding, all armed with the ability to strongly complete their movements and send energy past the reaches of the limbs. They all radiate the childish charisma needed to counter their often disappointing adult role models. I am honestly devastated that I will never be able to be a child in this show. They are given so much fun material, great songs, and brave characterizations. Alex Gaumond, a man, plays the evil Miss Agatha Trunchbull. He is brilliant in his portrayal of a comically nefarious grinch. The whole show glistens with quirkiness. The set brilliantly mirrors motifs of the story, particularly the importance of books. With smooth use of stage mechanics, the scene changes are so inconspicuous, they are almost a joy to watch unto themselves. Basically, the show was amazing. I would highly consider seeing it again before I leave if I could get cheap enough tickets. So, we queued in the morning for tickets, but the show wasn't until the evening, so Bridgette and I got lunch at a little cafe in Covent Garden, Cafe la Roche. Cat agreed to meet us in Piccadilly Circus, but Bridgette and I got distracted on the way... Click here to see what else we saw! Finally accompanied by Cat, we briefly wandered around Piccadilly Circus. Our best find was Carpo, a gourmet dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, and coffee shop. Cat and I each got a couple chocolates to try. It has been funny to see how much of a language barrier there is for us in London between the different dialects of English and all of the immigrants/foreigners. Example: I asked one of the employees at Carpo to describe one of the chocolates and this is what I got... "It's a little bit like a raisin....but from inside the gum....you can really taste the mountains." Well, with a description like that I knew I had to give it a try. It was great, but I have never licked a mountain, so I guess I'll never know exactly what she meant. As you can see, Bridgette, Cat, and I grabbed a hop-on/hop-off bus tour! The tour came highly recommended by Jay (Hi Jay!), and he was right (Thank you!). For a flat rate, we got to take several different bus routes around the city. We were also offered cheaper student rates at the attractions along the way. Some we had seen already, others weren't too interesting, so we decided to just buy tickets to Kensington Palace. The tours around the palace are self-guided. You follow 4 tracks they have set up: Fashion Rules (obviously our first stop), Queen Victoria, the Glorious Revolution, and the state apartments. Not only was the building gorgeous, but the museum was set up in a way that combined whimsy with the historical facts. For instance, in many rooms there were window seats with pillow cushions embroidered with the words "Sit here to hear the walls whisper." When you sat down, it activated a small speaker which would whisper gossipy conversations that may have happened in that room 250 years ago or surreptitiously fill you in on historical details. It was a very active way to introduce new information. I really enjoyed the museum and wandering around the gardens a little bit. We even saw a rainbow! Sunday FundaySunday was an awesome day. We went to Frae, a shop specializing in frozen yogurt, smoothies, and belgian waffles. Mine looked like this: We spent another couple hours dashing in and out of vintage shops in Islington trying on silly clothing. We came back to Nido for a couple hours and then returned to Islington for thai food for dinner!
In general... Everything is going really well, but it is still EXHAUSTING. I really love school, but our first show is a week from tomorrow and we aren't even completely set with who is playing which parts! Line memorizing is going to be the #1 chore of this weekend, considering we got our grocery shopping done tonight after class. Yay Tesco! Our fridge is now completely overflowing with fruits and vegetables. After January being the longest month of my life, I cannot believe we are almost a week into February! I'll be home before I know it! Today, Prof. Nick Hutchison took us on a walking tour of Shakespearian London. It's really great to get out and see these things instead of being told about them. Yay for experiential learning! Our first stop after getting off the tube was Postmans Park in the City of London, which (by the way) is its own jurisdiction. Postmans Park is unique for several reasons. First of all, it is a little oasis that exists in the middle of business London. More importantly though, it hosts The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. It is exactly as inspiring and morbid as it sounds. Each of those tiles in the picture describes a person who died in the process of trying to save someone else. Yes, I cried. No, I don't cry often upon arriving at memorials or parks. One that stood out to me in particular was a boy who ripped his sister's burning clothing off, but died of burns and shock himself. The whole concept of the memorial is really devastating but beautiful. There are quite a few children commemorated there, kids who saved younger friends or siblings from drowning, disaster, and death in exchange for their own lives. The wall of names and brief descriptions feels tragic, but it is a very meditative park with flowers and a little fountain with koi. It is certainly a sublime, little oasis. Apparently, business London is prone to weird little oases. This was our first Shakespearian themed stop of the afternoon. The statue pays tribute to Heminge and Condell, two men in Shakespeare's company of actors. They, I believe, were responsible for the publication of his first folio of work. This is Guildhall. The different trade guilds meet here (surprise!), but a really long time ago, there were acting guilds that put on shows that also met here sometimes. Honestly, it's pretty, but I'm a little bit sketchy on the details. Enjoy the photo. Nick took us to St. Paul's cathedral, but we did not get to go in, so that destination is only halfway checked off the list. A small street next to the cathedral is the site of Shakespeare's publishers, which was a neat fun fact, but that space is now a Citi Bank, so it wasn't that thrilling. Also, apparently we passed a man who is a famous member of a British band, but no one but Nick noticed/knew of the band. Nick said:
The Southward Church. Edmund Shakespeare, Shakespeare's brother is buried here. From foreground to background: Jason, Ricky, and Amanda looking at a memorial at the site of an old graveyard for "The Outcast Dead." These outcasts included a famous, Elizabethan group of prostitutes of the area. So, it used to be for people who were to be buried on unconsecrated ground or who didn't have people claim them to have proper funerals. Now, it is a shrine to lost and missing people. The strange part is that some people, when posting ribbons and messages to the gates, reference the whorish past of the grounds. It just seems to cheapen the loved one they are missing in a really uncomfortable way. This is the last gallery pub in London. Pubs like these inspired... ...The Actual Good Part of This Disjointed Post: THE GLOBE THEATREThe Globe was amazing. This is a reconstruction about a mile away from the original location, which has been about 10% excavated. The other 90% is covered by buildings. The new Globe is constructed in almost exactly the same way it would have been in its original form plus some additional room for fire codes. Thatched roofs are completely outlawed in London, so they had to get special permission to thatch the roof of the Globe AND had to add some flame retardant to the thatching. Interestingly, Shakespeare's company had to have the roof re-thatched every four years. The Globe's roof is currently three and a half years old and seems to be rotting/molding at exactly the same pace as the original. Ok. Roof rot is actually NOT the most interesting part of the Globe...
At the Globe, they try to do shows accurate to how they would have been done in the 1600s. This means, no microphones, no sets, no lighting, etc. Shows are performed at 2 in the afternoon to utilize the daylight of the open theatre. There is a "pit" in front of the stage where approximately 600 people stand throughout the show. The stalls hold about 1000 more, I think. Getting to go on the stage and the balcony was a really remarkable experience not only because it makes a good story, but also because you could see the faces of everyone in the seats. It really became clear why Shakespeare is written as it is. Shakespeare was not writing plays to be performed with a fourth wall and elaborate scenery. Rather, he was writing plays that constantly referenced the absurdity of running around a stage pretending to be people from far off eras and places. Every soliloquy could be done to specific audience members rather than the audience in general, making them much more personal and involving. It is one thing to observe someone talking to an exit sign and quite another to see them actually make a human connection with another person. The Globe space offers that opportunity for human connection in a way that modern theatres with their dimmable lights and prosceniums cannot. A lot of what Nick talked about while we were there was how people today think that they can outsmart Shakespeare by changing the time period in which it is set and adding a bunch of superfluous set dressing or spectacle to the works. That has its time and place. He speaks highly of Peter Brook's A Midsummer Night's Dream done with trapezes and credits it with changing the way the world views the versatility of Shakespeare, however, he does not think that the Globe is the place to try such experiments. Even small level experiments have backfired on productions. For instance, they added a catwalk through the pit for a production. This added a new manner of entrance for the actors instead of having everyone enter from upstage. Unfortunately, it was a record-breakingly rainy summer, and the catwalk went straight through the area of the theatre open to the sky. One actress who frequently crossed that bridge developed trench foot from all the rain! The stage, however, remains covered by a small roof and completely dry. Shakespeare clearly knew what he was doing in that theatre and always kept his actors under cover (and for good reason!). I could go on and on. We learned SO much. Other little fun facts include:
I am sure I am leaving out a LOT. If you made it to the end of this insanely long post, thank you. Please feel free to ask questions if I forgot to address something (which I definitely did). I won't claim to be an expert, but I tried my best to be a sponge for these few hours. The study abroad and the RADA people told us Nido was a 20-25 minute walk from our housing. I had been hoping that, like with Google Maps, we would be able to outpace the estimates. Unfortunately, Bridgette and I sprint-walked there this morning in just over 25 minutes. Ugh. It really isn't far at all, it is just good old London traffic and the fear of getting hit by cars that really slows us down.
Our day began with a warm-up with Nick Hutchison, our program director, and John Tucker, our voice teacher. Directly following that, we presented our monologues for several of our faculty members. While no one was quite expecting that, it wasn't a big deal. I was so glad to finally see everyone act! We had clown class with Jeremy, who works for RADA and the BBC - you know, all the big British acronyms. He told us to only write down what we want to forget (meaning don't write down anything) because writing things down is arbitrary. That was really frustrating because he was a fount of great quotes and little shreds of wisdom. Basically, he made us do a lot of really weird, earthy-crunchy, theatre exercises. We didn't quite get to clowning, but we did start some work on learning how to trust our instincts and get over the fear of having physical contact with our classmates. It is so funny, because that is something I take for granted but is definitely not a normal part of most students' educations. Same with having teachers give physical, hands-on corrections/adjustments to posture and the like. We had a lunch break. We are given free lunch in the "RADA Refectory" - new vocab word! We have the option of soup and a main course OR a main course and dessert. The food has been fine so far. Not much to say, but I figured y'all might be curious. Lunch was followed by a voice class with John Tucker. We spent a lot of time on postural alignment, spinal curls, and speaking with our tongues dangling out of our moths. He is a very efficient teacher, and I could tell what he was saying was already making a difference in my body and voice. Finally, we worked our monologues with Nick. Mostly, he spent his time telling us not to act, to remove the pretense and the performance and the presentational aspects from our work. Sometimes, it is good to hear that we need to try less! The really great part of the exercises with him was having a student sit in as the character opposite me in the monologue. It becomes very easy for a monologue to become very self-centered without actual eye contact with another human. All in all, it was a really productive day. I am excited for what is yet to come! I have to admit that I have been very boring today. I couldn't drag my roommate, Bridgette, out of bed before 2 pm, so I spent much of the day in bed looking over all the paperwork RADA handed out yesterday at orientation. Once she got up we ran some errands. Very uneventful and a poor use of our first Saturday in London. She just got in on Thursday though, so she is still pretty jetlagged.
We did make plans for the evening, however. Six of the eight of us went out for pho - the Vietnamese noodle soup. The menu tells you to pronounce it like "fur" which was extremely confusing until we realized that the Brits drop the 'r' sound. I enjoyed my soup a lot; I am sure we will be back. I really like that area in Islington. I don't actually know the street, but it is a densely restauranted area. It also is home to a froyo place called Snog, which I need to visit ASAP. The plan was to go see 12 Years a Slave right after dinner, but we arrived at the movie theatre and the showing was sold out! Here is where I get to tell you about how absolutely insane this theatre was. First of all, there were small aisles of candy selections and a Ben and Jerry's at the concessions bar. Dear America, I would like to propose a 28th amendment to the Constitution of the United States that requires all movie theatres in the country to offer a selection of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Sincerely, Sara - The Self Appointed US Secretary of Ice Cream OK. The snacks all looked great, but that was not all. There were touch screen machines that allowed you to purchase tickets in a self-serve manner. You can purchase tickets for "today" or in advance. Once you choose the show and the showtime, you can select your seats based on a floor plan of the theatre. Unlike America, the better seats cost an additional charge. It is kind of a crappy system, but it also allows you an opportunity to reserve good seats for a particularly exciting movie or hot date. Anyhow, with the first movie sold out and only scattered seats available for American Hustle, we dragged our sorry, boring butts back to Nido to veg out and look over our monologues for Monday like the good students that we are. And that, my friends, is the story of my crazy, wild first Saturday night in a country in which I am legally allowed to consume alcohol. *See, with an ending like that it sounds like a good story* After collecting a huge pile of fliers from theatres in Theatreland/Covent Garden, Nathan, Ricky, and I decided to try to get tickets for Mojo today. So, the four of us who are here trekked all the way down there (via the tube) this morning and found £15 tickets in the last row of the balcony. Perfect for us college students on a budget. FYI - the play stars Rupert Grint! I can't wait to see if he can actually act. Curtain is at 19:30 aka 7:30 pm aka 2:30 pm EST. I'll be sure to write my response to the show in the next few days.
After we procured our tickets and a cheap lunch at Pret a Manger, we spent some time wandering around the National Gallery. It is overwhelmingly huge. There are paintings of Jesus looking extremely effeminate EVERYWHERE. I really hope that isn't offensive...just my opinion on the paintings. I really think it is interesting how he is portrayed with such soft features. I guess a lot of his good deeds could be viewed as motherly, the way he took care of those in need. He seems to be portrayed as a strong man, but not necessarily a super masculine one. I really enjoyed the mythological paintings. There is one in particular of Perseus using Medusa's head to turn people into stone that is really neat. My favorite room, however, was the Monet/Renoir/Manet room. The water lilies are obviously stunning, though it was a bit of ego boost to see that the pieces in this museum pale in comparison to the one at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Our little gang walked around Piccadilly Circus and up Regent Street, though we didn't do any browsing or shopping. It is kind of a weird area, not nearly as flashy as Times Square or 5th Avenue, but also similar in some respects. Finally, we walked to Westminster Abbey. It is gorgeous and stunning (photo below). Only Jason opted to pay the £15 entrance fee. The rest of us, knowing that we will be back once the rest of our delegation arrives, decided to head back to Nido to rest (and write our blogs!). On Tuesday November 19, I received emails from two of my professors informing me of an open space in the new CWRU in London program. One of the eight students who had been accepted to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with this program had decided not to go, and I was being offered the last slot. After a long week of emails and phone calls back and forth with these professors and the study abroad office, I committed to go. It was a crazy week because on top of all of the insanity regarding London, I also had to schedule classes for my next semester at CWRU and audition/callback for the Eldred main stage productions. It was a really amazing but frantic week. And now, in less than 2 months, I will be living in London studying at one of the most prestigious theatre schools in the world. I can't wait!
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