It feels like forever since I’ve written a post… Mom, I’m surprised you haven’t said something! I’ve been busy busy busy but, of course, having a smashing time. Our last weeks of classes were pretty normal. In clown, we are working on a little scene that we will show our last day at LAMDA. We have a partner and it is our task to show something we have learned while here. But, it’s clown so trouble and hilarity ensues. Teresa and I are working together and we are playing with the idea of using an exercise we did in James’ class. Our first attempt wasn’t super funny but Michael said we had a good start and we will continue to refine it. In our last class with Diana (insert sad face here…), we began by doing our good ‘ole linear carole. Then we danced Cottey House, Hit and Misse, and Black Almain. Following that, we sat down with our notebooks and made a list of all the dances we have learned. There are 11 in total: Linear Carole, Black Almain, Scottish Dance, Galliard, Sellinger’s Round, Child Grove, Epping Forest, Hit and Misse, Lilli Burlero, Cottey House, and The Maid Peeped Out of the Window. After marveling at the volume of choreography we had learned, Diana told us she had a surprise, reached behind her, and pulled a beautiful crown out of a box. Not just any crown, though. The crown Cate Blanchett wore in Elizabeth. What? What? What? Turns out that was one of the first movies Diana ever worked on as a movement coach/dance instructor. After crowning each of us in turn, she went on to talk about all the people she has worked with.

My degrees of separation have shrunk considerably between a boat load of people now. And, as someone pointed out, it give us a lot of hope. Daniel Craig, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch… they were all acting students once, just like us, and now they’re working professionals with really solid careers. On the final day of singing, we sang some musical theatre songs. After Pierre had finished his song, Caryll very casually said, “Oh yes, I taught Benedict Cumberbatch to sing with this song. He couldn’t sing at all and then I worked with him on this song and when we finished he said, ‘Oh! I’ve got it!’ and then he could sing.” She just casually threw that in a conversation, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. We were simply incredulous and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. (I’ve also just started watching Sherlock and am absolutely obsessed. It’s so, so good.)

Besides classes and rehearsals, I’ve also had some fun weekend adventures. Last Friday, I didn’t have to be at rehearsal so I headed to the National Gallery to see the German Renaissance exhibition they have there right now, “Strange Beauty.” It includes pieces like the Arnolfini Portrait, The Ambassadors, and Durer’s Adam and Eve. I really enjoyed. The Arnolfini Portrait has been one of my favorite pieces to study in class because there is enough symbolism in it to occupy a scholar for a lifetime, yet the painting itself is relatively small and beautiful crafted. Here is a reproduction of it I’ve snagged from the internet.

The Ambassadors was also impressive to see in the person. It is a massive canvas with a realistic image of the meeting of these two ambassadors. There is a bit of a hidden image in the piece that I’ve studied in class but didn’t expect it to be quite so glaring when you see it in person.

At the bottom of the painting, if you hold the image at an angle, there is a very obvious skull on the ground. It takes up so much space of the painting and, when seen in person, the skull is just below eye level. At least for me, this meant that my eye was almost immediately drawn to its funky shape in an overall realistic portrait. I found that really interesting and sat in front of this piece for a while.

Once I had finished walking through this exhibition, I headed home to eat dinner and relax for a bit. Then I headed out again to see Blithe Spirit which featured Angela Lansbury. The show was hilarious and well done. I am largely unfamiliar with Noel Coward’s writing but I really enjoyed this show. Lansbury plays a medium that Charles Condomine calls to his house, hoping to get material for his latest book. While conducting a séance, Charles’ late wife (Elvira) arrives to haunt him. Elvira can be seen and heard by Charles but not by Charles’ second wife, Ruth. There are many funny moments of Charles speaking to Elvira but Ruth thinking he is speaking with her and Elvira purposefully putting Charles in compromising situations to try and ruin his marriage with Ruth. It is really rather funny and I enjoyed the show.

On Saturday, I slept in a bit and then went to the British Museum.

Holy cow… what a massive place. It holds interesting pieces from all ages of history. I saw the Rosetta Stone, mummies, ancient Roman and Greek ruins, and rows upon rows of jade and porcelain. While there were incredible treasures to be seen, I didn’t exactly enjoy my time at the museum. It was absolutely packed with tourists which made the whole place smell of BO and just generally bad stenches. The museum also hadn’t quite figured out its cooling system and it was a rather warm day so it was a little too warm in most of the rooms. It’s amazing how things like that can impact an experience. But, they did. So I saw what I wanted to see and then left to get some fresh, spring time air. I got a little ice cream cone and sat in a park for a while. It was perfect spring weather.

From there, I headed to Daunt Books. Daunt Books is a bookshop that originally specialized in travel books but now has a little bit of everything and, four years ago, started publishing as well. The original branch is located on Marlyebone High Street in an old Edwardian bookshop, rumored to be the first custom built bookshop in the world. It is a beautiful building. I wish I could live in there with its glowing skylights and creaky old stairs. I perused their collection for a long time and eventually left with some souvenirs.

From there I headed home again before meeting up with Lisa in Soho for dinner. We went to Wahaca, which is a restaurant I will most definitely miss when I leave. We had a great time and it was nice to catch up with her. We are both having fabulous, yet completely different, London experiences.

Sunday morning I woke up and headed out to Greenwich to see the Turner and the Sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Just as it had been the day before, it was a lovely spring day and Greenwich was blooming. The exhibition was amazing and I’m so glad I got to see it. It was well designed, too, with the viewers moving chronologically through Turner’s work, juxtaposing it with pieces by his contemporaries and followers. Once I had finished that exhibition, I wandered through the rest of the museum which was interesting but I don’t have any particular interest in naval history so I soon left to enjoy the sunshine. But not before enjoying the flute, clarinet, bassoon trio playing in the lobby! And this cool quote on the wall!

I wandered around the park, and saw the Queen’s House, commissioned by Anne of Denmark who was married to James I. Inigo Jones designed it so I thought it was even cooler because Inigo Jones was one of theatre’s first true set designers. (A fun fact you can now use at dinner parties.)

Since it was such a nice day, I decided to take the river bus back to central London. As I walked towards the water, I came across the Cutty Sark, one of the last British tea clippers to be built. She was fast and beautiful but quickly became obsolete as steam engine ships took over the seas. Now, she sits in Greenwich, right on the bank of the Thames.

Eventually, I boarded the river bus and headed back to central London. I went home, worked on my thesis proposal and other work I had to do, and then got ready for the week ahead.

In addition to all our last class shenanigans, we also saw a lot of LAMDA shows this past week. Monday we saw half of the final year students in the Foundation in Professional Acting course perform As You Like It. It was amazing. They set it in the late 60s which was a fun concept for this show. I knew the story beforehand but had never read the play. It is really funny and they captured the comedy well. The two actresses who played Rosalind and Celia were my favorites. They were so good and balanced simply speaking the text with brilliant timing and fun choices. On Wednesday, we saw the 1-year MA students perform two Lope de Vega pieces. They were great. The first was called Fuenteovejuna and was incredibly dark and violent. The other was The Caballero of Olmedo. This was much more of a clown show, until the last scene. Both were well done and it is always fun to see friends perform great work. On Thursday, we saw the other half of the final year students in the Foundation in Professional Acting course perform Mary Shelley. It was amazing. The play was written about two years ago and recounts Mary Shelley’s tumultuous life. I had no idea her life was quite so unconventional. Hearing her story, though, it is all too clear where Frankenstein came from. It was an ensemble show through and through with some ingenious design aspects using silhouettes, clever lighting, and dumb shows to make the story even clearer. It was a really wonderful production. All the proof anyone needs to validate LAMDA’s training is in the productions its students put on. The shows are on par with some of the professional work I’ve seen while I’ve been here. It is really impressive.

This Friday evening, I hung out with Teresa and Sarah and yesterday I saw two shows with Lindsay. First up was Lest We Forget, The English National Ballet’s compilation of works to commemorate the centennial of World War I. It was a three hour program with some of the most moving pieces of dance I’ve ever seen. And!! I got upgraded to the stalls again. I had purchased a £10, last row, highest balcony seat and when I arrived, they handed me a seat in row K of the stalls. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me but I am so not complaining. From that close, I could hear the dancers breathe and see the details of the costume, set, and their faces. It was dance so I couldn’t possibly hope to adequately describe these pieces but suffice to say I had chills all over too many times to count and, when it ended, I couldn’t move for easily a good 30 seconds. It was the perfect marriage of strength, grace, and emotion that I think contemporary ballet choreography so often struggles to find. One of my favorite moments was in the first piece that was about the men going off to war and the women taking over their jobs in factories and society in general. There was a section where one couple was dancing together and then there were men downstage and women upstage doing the same choreography, just without a partner. It was ingenious and breathtaking. Here is a link to the trailer (which doesn’t do it justice, but if you’re curious): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQEjyxF319c&feature=youtu.be

After the ballet, we had dinner near Paddington Station at a place called Bizarro. It was delicious, amazing Italian food. With bellies full of pasta and garlic bread, we headed to The Drowned Man, Punchdrunk’s show in London. This is the same company who produces Sleep No More in New York City. You enter the space, put on a mask, and are left to wander around a massive warehouse full of varying sets and actors. If you find an actor, you can follow them and their story but you are really creating your own version of the story based on what room you enter when. This production takes place at Temple Pictures, a fictitious movie studio in Hollywood and the characters stem from that idea. The description from the website says, “Step into the world of Temple Pictures where the Hollywood studio system meets a forgotten hinterland filled with dreamers who exist at the fringes of the movie industry. Here, celluloid fantasy clings to desperate realism and certainty dissolves into a hallucinatory world.” They encourage you to explore on your own, which I was hesitant to do when I saw Sleep No More but this time I promised myself I’d be brave. I found myself following the costume lady for a while and decided to commit to just following her for a while. It paid off. After chasing her down dark hallways and sticking with her even when some of the main actors ran in the opposite direction, she pulled me into a dressing room, locked the door behind us, and took off my mask and started talking to me while she did my makeup. She launched into a whole monologue about a queen who was hungry for more influence and power. Some people thought this queen was honestly regal and others thought she used witchcraft. As she said that final line, she turned my head toward what had been a mirror seconds before which was now transparent with a scary mask-like thing on the other side. “I think we know which one it was…” she whispered in my ear. Then the lights, which had been dimming, returned to their normal level and the mirror became a mirror again. She smiled at me, said, “Well… we better get you to your next scene!” and ushered me toward the door. Replacing my mask on my face, she took off a necklace she had been wearing and put it around my neck. “Be careful out there,” she said, and shoved me out the door. I continued wandering for what must have been another hour or so, following various characters and watching their stories. The show culminated in a big group number and then, just like that, it was over. Easily one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. I wish I could go back every single night because I know I would never see the same show twice. It was incredible.

Today, a few of us went to the Kensington Palace Orangery for high tea in celebration of my birthday. We ate delicious finger sandwiches, fluffy scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries, and aromatic tea. We even had a glass of champagne to celebrate (Pimm’s for Sarah and Amy, though). I had been looking forward to this for weeks and weeks and it certainly did not disappoint. We had such a lovely time. It was a brilliant way to kick off birthday celebrations!

Thank you to my parents and grandparents for treating us to such a decadent treat. We felt like such ladies.

Next week, we have rehearsals all day, every day. I’m not complaining. I love working on Hamlet. We have another week and a few days before the show and that’s a little nerve-wracking but I’m sure we will be more than ready when the time comes. The next couple weeks promise to be exciting and enjoyable. Time to cram in every last thing I want to see, do, and experience!

Until next time!

Cheers : )