Dinner with Lisa last night was lovely. We went to Giraffe on the South Bank and enjoyed some delicious food. It was lovely to see her and I can’t wait to meet up with all the GW England people soon.

Today LAMDA started. Claire (my shoebox-mate) and I headed out a bit early, stopped at the local Pret a Manger, got a cup of tea (so British, I know. Also, Zayde, you would’ve loved the tea. Very strong and fragrant) and then got on the Tube. In total it probably takes about 20 minutes to travel from our room to LAMDA. Not bad at all and very easy.

Claire and I both agreed that the first day of anything is always so unnecessarily stressful and nerve-wracking. We were glad to have each other as we waited in the LAMDA common room for our day to start. All around us were the year, two year, and three year program students greeting each other after the Christmas holiday and we felt quite alone. Soon enough, though, we were led to one of the studios where all of us semester long students sat in a large horseshoe shape. Rodney (the director of LAMDA) and Debbie (the director of the acting program) addressed us all for about an hour and a half. They passed out our time table and explained the way our training would occur. Rodney is amazing. I have had the great fortune of hearing him speak once before when Alan and the Dean’s Scholars came to London my freshmen year. He explained LAMDA as being “the most physical training in the UK because that gets you out of your head. After all, you don’t intellectualize rhythm. You feel rhythm. And any great playwright writes in rhythm.”

Music to my ears. Any training I’ve ever had that I found useful and enjoyed has shared the sentiment of getting out of your head and de-intellectualizing everything. Intellectual analysis has a time and a place, definitely, but eventually that time and place expire and it is time to stop thinking. The training here seems to cater to exactly that and I could not be more excited and happy.

Furthermore, Rodney explained, “we are here to serve a playwright, not ourselves. Check your egos at the door.”

Cue the hallelujah chorus, if you please.

Classes run from 9am-5:30pm (sometimes later depending on if we have a master class) with an hour lunch break. ACTING. ALL. DAY. LONG. I can’t think of anything better.

After our lunch break today, we had a lecture by Rodney about the English Kings and Queens. It was particularly focused on the ones Shakespeare wrote his history plays about. Rodney is an engaging and fascinating lecturer. Everyone in the room hung on every word. The story he wove was full of humor and intrigue. History teachers should take a lesson from him in how to lecture effectively. All throughout he gave the guys and the girls good advice on finding good audition monologues that differ from the ones they see at LAMDA auditions over and over and over again.

In entirely un-American fashion, after Rodney’s lecture, all us new students were welcomed by drinks and sandwiches with Rodney and Debbie as well as some current LAMDA students. It was great to mingle with everyone and have the chance to really talk to people. There are a few characters but everyone seems very nice. It is incredibly refreshing to be surrounded by people who love theatre, who live for theatre. Standing in the common room during a short break, I looked around and there were people everywhere practicing and memorizing lines while carrying on conversations with friends who were doing the same thing. Being surrounded by people who share the exact same passion as you is invigorating and I can’t wait to start really working and learning.

The rest of the week we spend sight seeing and getting to know our group of semester abroad students. Next week begins the real focused work and classes. Classes include acting, clown, singing, Alexander technique, voice, text, historical dance, physical theatre, and combat. That doesn’t include all the rehearsals we will have preparing Shakespearean history scenes, Restoration comedy scenes, and Shakespearean tragedy scenes. Tomorrow we will go to Hampton Court and then see Richard II starring David Tennant. Later this week we will go to the Tower of London and next week we will see Henry V starring Jude Law. Later this semester we will take a two day trip to Stratford and see three shows at the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’m in theatre heaven and I couldn’t be happier.

Until next time!

Cheers 🙂