After finishing out our week of classes, it was on to weekend adventures. Saturday, Teresa, Sarah, and I had a double feature day. (Can I really call it a double feature day? We definitely didn’t get two shows for the price of one…) We had a nice lunch at the crêperie in South Kensington and then headed to The National Theatre for Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear. I think Teresa said it best: “Holy Lear… THAT is how you do Shakespeare.” This production rivals Coriolanus, which I swore was the best piece of live theatre I had ever seen. Lear might just usurp the first place spot. Simon Russell Beale played King Lear brilliantly and the rest of the cast was right there with him. The design was incredible too. I particularly liked how the lighting shifted as Lear’s mind shifted. The scene that particularly stands out is the scene where Gloucester and Lear sit together and simply talk. Both men are not 100% in their right minds but they sit down and have a conversation. It is beautiful and heart breaking. All of the Cordelia and King Lear scenes are also wonderfully written, but I didn’t care for the actress playing Cordelia. Despite not loving that actress, I was wrecked by the end of the play. As Lear cradled the body of his most beloved daughter and wept, I was sitting in the audience sniffling and wiping away tears that continued even after the house lights came up and I was left with an overwhelming desire to call my dad to tell him how much I love him.

Recovering from King Lear, we stopped at Giraffe to grab some dinner before heading to The Old Vic to see Other Desert Cities. Another great play but entirely different from our matinee show. It focuses on a family of four and the crazy aunt. It was a well told story and I really want to read the script. The actors were all talented and everything was so truthful I walked out of the theatre thinking that it must be based on a true story. (I was wrong…) It is interesting to me that this play was chosen to be staged in England. The action takes place almost entirely in Palm Springs, California and there were a couple jokes that left me as the only audience member laughing (including a reference to the terrible traffic on Bob Hope Dr.). Knowing that area so well certainly contributed to my enjoyment of the show but, even without that, it was still a really great piece.

Sunday, I began the day by visiting The Wallace Collection, a former private residence with an unparalleled collection of 18th century French paintings, porcelain, furniture, and Old Masters paintings.

Being the art history nerd that I am, I went on the free guided tour of the space. I’m so glad I did because I learned about the history of the house and how the collection was started. Essentially, it all comes down to some really rich dudes with an appreciation for art but mostly with an appreciation for showing off their wealth. The first four Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace are responsible for assembling the collection and Lady Wallace is responsible for leaving the house and its contents to England in 1897. Thanks to the stipulations in her will, nothing is to be added or removed from the collection. That means that visiting The Wallace Collection is the only way to see these pieces and the collection remains constant. Rather than viewing everything from behind velvet ropes in a meticulously laid out exhibition space, you are free to wander throughout the house, as if you were a guest invited for a dinner party or reception. Obviously there are safety precautions in place (you can’t sit on most of the original furniture, for example) but it still feels more intimate than a regular museum setting. I was in heaven. 18th century French paintings are my absolute favorite and most of my favorite painters come from that period, too. I got to see Fragonards, Bouchers, Lancrets, and Watteaus up close and personal. My favorite painting, The Swing, was suddenly hanging on a library wall right in front of me. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun and am so happy I visited.

Following the museum, I went to visit Amy at her flat where we had tea and hot cross buns. John was shocked that I had never had them before but, being Jewish and American, I simply have never come across them until now (unless you count the nursery rhyme.) Finally, I returned home to make dinner and get everything in order for another week of school.

We had a week of a fairly standard schedule of classes, and the highlight from this past week is definitely RP Night. RP Night has been on our schedule since day one and really gave a purpose to our RP classes. We were working toward an end goal. Rather than just teaching us the standard British dialect and calling it a day, we got to apply what we were learning to a duologue. Félicie and I chose a scene from Alan Ayckbourn’s Life and Beth, a play about a woman whose husband has recently passed away. Monday evening we had our dress rehearsal and Tuesday evening, our whole group of S’s settled in to watch each other perform in these self-directed scenes. Everyone had clearly worked hard on perfecting the dialect and it was fun to watch everyone perform in contemporary scenes. It was a nice, low-key evening that gave everyone a chance to shine.

Last night, Lindsay and I saw From Here to Eternity, a musical that takes place in Pearl Harbor, 1941, with lyrics by Tim Rice. We had very high hopes. The music did not disappoint. The show as a whole, however, was a bit of a let down. Despite being informed upon arrival that our back row, top balcony seats had been upgraded to third row center, I was left wanting more from the performance. The book was poorly written, leaving many of the scenes feeling empty or melodramatic (sometimes both…). It was as if they focused way too much energy on unimportant details while ignoring and not properly telling the truly important aspects of the story. There were things that I saw glimmers of that I wanted to see more fully fleshed out. I think if they briefly take it back to the drawing board and figure out what story they really want to tell, it could be an incredible show. Some of the songs were quite brilliant, though, and I hope they release a soundtrack soon!

In addition to our normal schedule of classes, we have continued rehearsing Hamlet each afternoon. James has decided to split the casting into 4 Hamlets, 2 Gertrudes, 2 Claudiuses, 2 Ophelias, 1 Horatio, 1 Polonius, and 1 person playing Laertes and the Ghost. I was cast as Hamlet for act 1. Having the opportunity to tackle that character as my last project here at LAMDA feels kind of surreal. I’m having so much fun working on it so far and it’s proving a welcome challenge. A challenge like this is great because it’s sort of forcing me to distill everything I’ve been learning and apply it all to assist me in tackling it. George is our voice coach for the project, again, (Yay!! I love, love, love George) and we worked on one of my speeches yesterday. He’s given me a lot of helpful things to think about.

One more day of classes to finish out the week and then on to the weekend! I’ve already got plans to have dinner with Lisa on Saturday and I think I’ll try and see a show or two as well. Other than that, I’m just trying to squeeze in as much sight seeing as I can, see everything that is left to see! Time dwindles conspicuously; I had to register for my fall semester at GW a couple days ago and a month from today I will be on a plane back home.

There is plenty to do in the remaining month, though. And there is so much to look forward to: last week of classes, continuing our work on Hamlet, my birthday (!!), lots of traveling, and (of course) plenty of adventures in London itself.

Until next time!

Cheers : )