I asked myself why it has taken me so long to sit down and write my final blog post. I began to type out a long, philosophical, introspective answer to my own question and, as it went on and on, I decided to keep all that for myself. Instead, I opted for some statistics about my time abroad.

While at LAMDA, I played 7 different characters. (That doesn’t include the characters we would briefly work on over the course of one class or small, supporting roles in some of the workshops.)

I visited 5 countries (including England) before returning home.

Over the course of the months of January, February, March, and April, I saw 32 productions (plays, musicals, and dance).

And, perhaps most importantly, I met over 40 dedicated actors and 15 brilliant teachers.

You always hear people talk about how their study abroad experiences changed their lives. It always sounds like a cliché, no matter how they try and subsequently explain themselves. So, I guess I will just say this: Being at LAMDA, living in England, going on adventures by myself and with new friends have impacted my life in ways that I don’t think I even fully understand yet. But I know that the past 4 months have changed me for the better, made me realize things about myself, and made me grow as a person and as an artist. I also had a really great time, plain and simple.

And I guess for now that’s all I really have to say about it, besides thank you. Thank you to all of you who kept up with the blog, thank you to all my friends who kept me sane, and thank you to my family who is always there to support me and this experience was no exception.

I made it back to Utah safely, to the delight of Mom, Dad, and Emily who were waiting with balloons and a hand-drawn sign welcoming me home.

Now it is on to the next adventure and whatever else is to come.

And so, for the last time (at least for now, I can’t decide if I will keep writing on the blog. Guess you’ll just have to keep checking back for more!)…

Cheers  : )

This post has been a long time coming. The end of the semester was no different from the rest of my time abroad: it was crazy busy and time passed in the blink of an eye. This promises to be quite a long post, detailing my post-LAMDA journeys and I think I will make an additional post about my journey home and the true end of a great adventure.

On Saturday morning (April 19th), I took what would be the first of many visits to Victoria Coach Station. I boarded an early morning bus to Bath and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up a couple hours later, I was surrounded by picturesque, stereotypical, English countryside. There were sheep with their lambs, stone cottages, rolling green hills, and plenty of horses. I could feel my smile growing wider as we approached the town of Bath. Finally we arrived and I stepped off the bus into the crisp morning air.

First things first, I needed some caffeine so I grabbed some tea and was soon on my way. I should use “on my way” fairly loosely because truly I just started to walk. Eventually, I came upon the square that holds the entrance to the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey. On my way I stopped to listen to a street performer on his violin. He was a great musician. I picked up his card because it said he was on YouTube but now I’ve lost the card and can’t remember his name. (If anyone has been to Bath and seen this guy, let me know. I want to find him on YouTube!) (**Update! I was unpacking and found his card. His name is Joel Grainger. YouTube him, he’s awesome.) Anyway, I wandered into Bath Abbey. The inside was lovely but I think I liked the façade more. Framing the dominant front window were two pillars with angels climbing ladders up to heaven. I thought that was beautiful.

Leaving the abbey, I headed to the Jane Austen Centre where I heard all about Jane’s life from a well-costumed tour guide. I knew some of the trivia from my own studies but a lot of it was new information. I didn’t realize Jane Austen led such a relatively reclusive life with her sister and mother. After learning about Austen, I took a walk around the Circus and the Royal Crescent, passing the door to Jane Austen’s Bath home on the way. Bath is like a pop-up architecture text book. Everything feels entirely untouched yet well preserved.

Following this nice walk I returned to the Roman Baths to wait in line to get in. The queue took about 45 minutes but was worth every moment once I got inside. It is a whole little city unto itself, complete with hot water bath rooms, cold water rooms, and a temple. As an art history (and just plain history) nerd, it was fascinating to see these relatively well preserved remains of a vibrant Roman city.

After sufficiently touring around the baths, I decided it was time for some afternoon tea. I headed back to the top floor of the Jane Austen Centre where they have a “Regency Tea Room.” The lady working there was dressed in Regency garb and sat me at a nice table by the window. I ordered my Austen Blend Tea, some sandwiches, and a scone. It somehow worked out that Bekah was on Facebook messenger at the exact same time so, thanks to technology, I (kind of) had tea with Bekah! Finishing my tea, I had about 3 hours left in the city so I just started walking. I walked all around the city centre and then settled on a nice bench in the sun across the river from the rugby stadium. Bath was playing a home match and I could hear the thunderous applause and cheers from my perch. I enjoyed the sunshine, sportsmanship, and Pulteney Bridge.

Once the clouds started to roll in (as you can see in the picture above), I decided to keep walking. On my walk, I came upon the Bath Cricket Club. There were a few people picnicking on the grass just off the field (?), pitch (?), what do you call the area where they play cricket? Anyway, I sat down to watch for a bit as I still had some time left before I needed to get on my bus back to London. An extremely serious question arose as I watched: Does anyone truly understand cricket?? I watched for quite a long time and I think they make up the rules as they go. It really was not clear how or why they did certain things. Maybe it’s something you have to be born British to understand. It was eventually time for me to head to the bus station so I did and we headed back to London (via Victoria Coach Station).

Arriving back at Amy’s house, I had just enough time to shower and pack, and say another goodbye to Christian and Caleb (we were helping each other stay up all night because we all had early transportation to catch) before it was time to head back to Victoria Coach Station to catch my bus to Stansted Airport. And, with that, I was on my way to Berlin!

Exiting the airport, I got on the airport express to central Berlin where Roxy (my suitemate from last semester) met me to take me to her dorm. She lives a stones throw from Checkpoint Charlie. We dropped off my stuff and then went to meet our friend Julia for brunch. Julia was also visiting for a couple days and we had a lovely little trio to go exploring with. We enjoyed our food and then headed to an art gallery. Not just any art gallery, though. This art gallery is located inside an old World War II bunker. The Boros Collection is housed inside this bunker and is shown in installments. Currently, the second installment is on display and we were given a tour by a friendly German woman who couldn’t have been that much older than the three of us. She was passionate not only about the art housed in this historic building but also about the history of the space we were occupying. It was absolutely fascinating and I loved the pieces we saw. Below is a picture of the bunker that I took off of Google. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of it as we left.

The collectors live in a custom built apartment on what used to be the roof of the bunker. You can just barely see it in this picture. Leaving the Boros Collection, we walked through a bit of the area of East Berlin that we were in before taking the u-bahn to go and see the East Side Gallery.

We walked along most (if not all) of the East Side Gallery before deciding to sit on the bank of the River Spree to enjoy the sunshine and sights all around us.

As the sun began to set, we headed for dinner and some good ‘ole German beers. Then we headed to the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial. Both were beautiful at night: the Brandenburg Gate all lit up and the Holocaust Memorial solemn and imposing.

It was raining and rather dark so the pictures of the Holocaust Memorial didn’t turn out well but it is a well designed memorial to commemorate that horrific event.

I was practically falling asleep standing up at this point (I had been awake for about 36 hours) so we returned home and I went straight to bed.

The next morning we had a traditional German breakfast at a lovely restaurant in a nice neighborhood near where Roxy goes to school. The food was brought out on tiered trays with meats, cheeses, fruits, and more piled high. It was delicious. Then it was time for Julia to catch her flight to Greece (still jealous about that one) so we said goodbye and set out for more sight seeing. We headed to Museum Island to visit the Pergamon Museum but there was a massive queue so we decided to skip it. That led us to simply walk and walk and walk around the city. I saw Berlin Cathedral, the Bundeskanzleramt (the German version of the White House), and the Reichstag, to name a few.

We walked through a park which was holding a children’s carnival and then decided to visit the Jewish Museum. I really enjoyed this museum because it took you through the entire history of the Jewish people and religion, not simply focusing on the Holocaust but celebrating the entire existence. For instance, they had an intricate illuminated manuscript version of the Jewish bible. I didn’t even know Jews made illuminated manuscripts! Though I suppose without entire monastic communities dedicated to the cause, it would make sense that they are much fewer and farther between.

That evening for dinner we went to an amazing Korean restaurant. Apparently, Berlin is known for its excellent restaurants excelling in various Asian cuisines. I had bimbimbap which was delicious. I even tried to order in German, with Roxy’s help, and nearly succeeded until the lady asked me if I wanted my water “with gas or without gas” …. in German. I looked at Roxy helplessly and she translated and then my cover was blown so I responded in English. Oh the horror! Actually, I did get mistaken for a German at least once when someone started speaking to me in German and was a little confused when I had absolutely no clue what they were saying. Thank you ancestors for your German genes!

I should mention that before going to dinner, we attempted to find this concert hall where a ballet was being performed. We thought it would be fun to see a show together but between Google Maps, the theatre’s website, and wandering around the areas it should have been, we could not find this theatre. After intently looking, we gave up and headed for dinner. Roxy, have you found it yet?? It has to exist somewhere in the city, right?

The next morning I had to wake up early and head back to the airport. It was a quick trip but we managed to cram a lot in and I had a great time. Thank you, Roxy, for letting me stay with you and showing me around the city you have fallen in love with!!

Flying back in to Stansted, I boarded a bus to return to… You guessed it! Victoria Coach Station! Then I headed to Amy’s house for a much needed day in. I edited my photos and took some time to just sit and relax. That didn’t last too long, though, because I had a ticket to see Imelda Staunton in Good People at the Noël Coward Theatre. When I arrived at the theatre, I found I had once again been upgraded to the stalls. Not to brag, but I think I have really figured out London ticket sales: Buy the cheapest, worst seat in the house as a single ticket. Pray that the show isn’t selling too too well and then they will upgrade you to a poor single seat in the stalls. It’s marvelous. The show itself was pretty good. I liked the production and the script was great. It takes place in Boston, mostly South Boston. As such, many of the jokes were decidedly American in quality which left me as the lone laugher at times. There was one part that I legitimately cackled at and the stiff upper lip British lady in front of me turned around and stared. Sorry lady. That joke was too funny to stifle my laughter. Imelda Staunton is a powerhouse, and she’s maybe five feet tall. At times, she was carrying that show on her petite back and rocking every moment of it. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My walk to the tube after the show took me right by the stage door. As I passed, Imelda Staunton ran out of the door in cuffed jeans and a fleece pullover. She signed a quick autograph for the person standing right by the door and when someone congratulated her on a show well done, she looked genuinely flattered. She smiled and said, “Thank you so much! I am so glad you enjoyed, thanks for seeing the show.” It was such a normal, polite, humble interaction. I always love seeing people I perceive as being immensely talented act like such normal people in real life.

The next day was April 23rd. St. George’s Day aaaaand Shakespeare’s 450th birthday!! I remember being in high school (it must have been 10th or 11th grade) and we were discussing how a milestone birthday was coming up relatively soon. I remember thinking that I would have to find a way to get to London for that milestone. Actually, not just thinking, I remember saying aloud that I would find my way to London or Stratford somehow, someway. Well, I did it and it was pretty freaking exciting.

I headed to the Globe around 11 to pick up my tickets for that evening’s performance of Hamlet. (More on this later but, yes… I was bursting with excitement.) The Globe had their full day of celebration a couple days earlier so I was free until I needed to get in line for a good standing room spot. It was a beautiful day so I wandered over to Borough Market, an outdoor food market nearby. I visited this market on what must have been my first day in London but I didn’t buy any food that day. This time, I decided to get lunch and dessert from here and sit in the sun to enjoy it. I wandered around to all the food stalls, trying to decide exactly what I wanted. I settled on a chicken burger and I definitely made a good choice. It was moist, well seasoned, and had some delicious sauce on the bun. For dessert, I bought a giant chocolate chip cookie. It was an afternoon well spent and my stomach was happy.

With some more time to kill, I headed to the Tate Britain. I still hadn’t been and that was really a crime so I thought I would remedy that. I’m so happy I went because this museum houses some of my favorite artists of all time. It was quite enjoyable to wander the halls for a while before returning to the Globe to get in line.

I wanted to have an authentic Globe experience so I bought the “groundling” ticket, meaning I would be standing for the entire performance but standing right at the stage. This is how the less wealthy (and therefore majority) of the audience would have heard Shakespeare’s plays in his time. When we got in the theatre, I wasn’t in the row of people leaning on the stage but I was just behind them. I was so close. And I was so excited. (Oh, and by the way, the actor playing Hamlet is a LAMDA graduate.)

The show itself was, in all honesty, mediocre. To be fair, I was just coming off spending all my time with this text and performing what I thought was a respectable version of it. There were aspects of the Globe’s production that I did love, though. The way they handled the play within the play and most of act 3 was inventive and captivating. What I found fault with, in particular, were the choices made about Hamlet’s character. He was rather goofy and quick-witted for the entire play. This didn’t give him much of a dynamic personality. Again, this is at least in part because we played our Hamlet as a much more emotional piece, a choice that I think I prefer. What was indescribably surreal was the fact that I was standing in the Globe, watching (arguably) one of the best plays in the English language, on Shakespeare’s birthday, having just finished a semester of intense theatre training. It was definitely one of those “pinch me, I’m dreaming” moments.

3 hours later, the play ended. As Horatio delivered one of his final lines, and one of my  favorite lines in all of Shakespeare, I couldn’t help but get extremely emotional. My time abroad was very quickly coming to an end. I had just spent my last full day in London and all too soon it would be time to board my plane home. “Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” Thank goodness I had the excuse of the ending of a Shakespearean tragedy on which to blame my tears.

I headed back to Amy’s and gathered my belongings for my trip to Paris and to visit Emma! I arrived at St. Pancras International Train Station just before 5:00am and boarded my EuroStar to Paris. This journey has made me a true believer in train travel. It feels so much more elegant, classy, and civilized than air travel. You arrive 30 minutes before your train, pass through security with little hassle, and wait in a nice area before boarding your train. I’m a big fan.

An easy, brief train ride later and I was pulling into the Gare du Nord and making my way to the metro to Emma’s stop. She met me just outside the station with a pain au chocolat to welcome me to Paris. (Greatest arrival gift ever. Thank you Emma!) We dropped my stuff off in her room and then headed out to see Paris. Having had the great fortune to have visited Paris twice before, and since Emma has been living there all semester, we agreed we didn’t need to rush around hitting all the major tourist spots. This gave us the leisure and enjoyment of wandering around Paris at our own pace.

We started by going to the Tuileries, getting some crêpes, and eating them while relaxing in the sun.

Following the Tuileries, we went to the Montmartre area. I had never seen the Moulin Rouge so we walked by there first. Then we climbed the hill to Sacre Coeur. It was a beautiful spring day so we sat down on the grass to enjoy the view and the sun.

Some more walking, a coffee break, and a quick stop back at Emma’s room and then we headed to La Comédie Française. Somehow I had convinced Emma to see a Shakespeare show with me, in French, at a theatre founded in 1680 by King Louis XIV. We got in line and purchased our student tickets for Le Rêve de Nuit d’Été or, as us English speakers would say, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I slightly over-estimated my French abilities and understood very little of the actual dialogue. However! The show had a post-modern design which left the set clean and crisp, allowing room for the words. Too bad I could only guess at what they were saying… Luckily this play is one I’m familiar enough with to follow the plot. Despite not getting every word, I’m glad we went. It was a cool, unique experience.

The next morning, we went to the catacombs. Neither of us had ever been and they were supposed to be quite a sight to see. We waited in line for nearly two and a half hours, which was excessive but the catacombs were completely worth it. As we waited in line, we looked up the exact history of the catacombs. When an above ground cemetery was filled to the brim and releasing toxic fumes of decaying bodies into the air, it was decided to move these bodies (and any further bodies) to underground burial chambers. The catacombs are filled with over 6 million human remains, occupying a former stone mine’s tunnels. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what we were going to see. It was tunnel after tunnel of artistically stacked femur bones, skulls, and more. And it went on forever! Spaced throughout the tunnels were tombstone-like sculptures detailing when that pile of bones had been moved out of The Cemetery of the Innocents. There were plaques with poetry and quotations from various writers and temple-like structures in various places. It was an eery subterranean walk but certainly worth the wait.

After the catacombs, we were somehow hungry for lunch. We grabbed some baguette sandwiches and made our way to the Musée Rodin. Sitting in the middle of the gardens, we ate our sandwiches and then walked around. It had been drizzling earlier in the morning but it had stopped, leaving an overcast but nice afternoon to enjoy the gardens. We saw the sculptures and enjoyed the gardens, then headed in to the museum. There were some interesting studies for Rodin’s pieces. Everything was beautiful.

Leaving the Rodin Museum, we went to the 11th arrondissement and met up with Devon!! (For those of you who don’t know, Devon was my babysitter when Emily and I were little, little kids. We’ve kept in touch ever since and it is always nice to get to catch up. She’s living a fabulous Parisian life now and was the cause of all my mom’s anxiety that I would never return from London because she studied abroad in France and never left.) Emma had recommended Ethiopian food for dinner so we went to a little place down the street from Devon’s apartment. The food was delicious! Good thing it was, too, because my hands smelled like it for the next million hours (no utensils with Ethiopian food). It was wonderful to see Devon and catch up plus I got to try Ethiopian food for the first time. A win win all around.

We began the following morning with a trip to Emma’s local bakery. I got a pain au chocolat and gleefully ate it as we made our way towards Notre Dame. Having positively no desire to wait in the massive line to go in to Notre Dame, we headed towards our real destination: Shakespeare and Company. Wow. What a cool bookshop. My favorite section was the reference library on the second floor. You can’t purchase books from that room but there are well-loved books on every subject lining the walls. You could snuggle up with a book about anything and sit there for as long as you want to read and learn whatever you want. A very cool place indeed. (For more information, check this out: http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/what-its-like-to-live-at-a-bookstore-in-paris)

After sufficiently nerding-out in the bookshop, we walked down the bank of the Seine, looking at the knick knacks being sold out of the green boxes-turned-vendor stalls. Then we reached the Pont des Arts. There’s something about Paris that makes me feel so very artsy so I paused to take a bunch of photos. There was also plenty of people watching to be done as couples all around us made their own additions to the bridge.

By this point, the rain that had been falling lightly started to fall a bit harder. We thought it might be best to head back to Emma’s. We took the long way to the metro station, though, and on our way stopped in an unassuming church near the back of the Louvre. It was breathtaking inside. Respectfully, I put away my camera but I wish I had the chance to take pictures of it. It was magnificent and attached to the main building for the mayor of the 1st arrondissement. What luck that we happened to stop inside!

All too soon it was time for me to head to the airport and head back to London. Being in Paris with Emma was such a treat. Thank you, Emma, for indulging me in my ultimate nerdy-ness and showing me around this beautiful city. I’m so jealous that you’re still there. Enjoy your last few weeks! I’m sure they will fly by.

The flight to London was easy and quick. As I boarded the tube at Heathrow I was suddenly struck by the fact that the next time I got on the tube, it would be with all of my belongings to head back to Heathrow and fly home. That made me emotional, a foreshadowing of all the feelings to come. I headed to Amy’s, spent one last night hanging out with her and John, and then packed up all my bags for the morning.

Stay tuned for a detailed wrap up…

Until next time…

Cheers.

It feels like it has been a long time since I last posted but I think that’s only because so much has happened in the last week and a half. Last week, we had rehearsals for Hamlet scheduled from 10-5:30, everyday. Lucky for me, though, because of the way the play was divided in terms of casting, I had a couple days off. Monday, I had part of the day free so I picked up a last minute ticket to a show. Sarah and I saw Birdland at The Royal Court Theatre. It was an interesting show dealing with the personal, emotional, and mental complications that come with fame and money. It starred Andrew Scott who was quite brilliant. There were moments of the show I really liked and others that I didn’t care for. It was interesting but certainly not my favorite thing I’ve seen. Some of the design elements did not make much sense and were, at times, distracting from the story. It had a strong sense of ensemble, led by Scott, but I’m just not sold on the show as a whole.

On my birthday, I had the entire day off and spent it wandering around London. Well, first I slept in, of course. Then I made my way over to Regent’s Park because I had heard it is beautiful. I heard correctly. Regent’s Park is definitely my favorite park in London. It is smaller than Hyde Park but serene and lovely. Some of the flowers have even begun to bloom making it full of color and life. There was a section clearly reserved for rows upon rows of roses. I’m sure when all of those rose gardens bloom it will be spectacular.

As a newly obsessed Sherlock fan, getting off the tube at Baker Street meant that I miiiiight just walk by 221B. In fact, it was right on the way to and from Regent’s Park. The line to get into the museum was a mile long so I settled on snapping a few pictures and stopping in the gift shop.

That evening, Sarah, Teresa, Lindsay and I went out to a speak easy to ring in my 21st birthday. The speak easy is in a restaurant called The Breakfast Club, of which there are many throughout the city. At this particular franchise, though, there’s a speak easy hidden beneath everyone enjoying their french toast and pancakes. We walked up to the hostess and said, “We’re here to see the mayor,” the secret code for admittance to the speak easy. Then she escorted us up to a refrigerator door, opened it, and behind it was a flight of stairs leading down to the basement which contained a few small tables and a bar. For my first birthday drink, I ordered a chili lemongrass margarita. It was delicious. Then Lindsay ordered me the drink that won the award as being the best drink in London. We had a great time and it was fun to celebrate my birthday with close friends.

Wednesday I had part of the day off again so I slept in, had a lazy morning basking in the sunlight that was streaming in my window, and then headed to school to do some voice work with George. After that, I headed back home to memorize lines. That evening, we went to see ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore. Alas, tis pity it was terrible. The production attempted to place the story in a contemporary setting and incorporate a lot of movement and music. It failed, unfortunately, crashing and burning around itself as we watched. At first, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t like it. I think I was trying to convince myself that after sitting through it all that it couldn’t have been that bad. But it was. It really was.

Thursday we continued with rehearsals and then Sarah, Teresa, and I went to see Let The Right One In. It is a play based on a book turned movie about a young girl who is a vampire and befriends a young boy. It is a story of innocence and friendship that I enjoyed quite a bit. The story moved deliberately slowly, which I didn’t mind. There were some very interesting movement pieces in it, as well. The actor playing the main boy was grrrrreat but I didn’t care for the actress playing the girl. This makes it tough for me to say I absolutely loved the show, but it was quite good and I enjoyed aspects of it.

Friday night I went to dinner with Amy at Cafe Pacifico. Man have I missed Mexican food. I ate my weight in it and that should keep me happy until I return home to Casa Bernstein. Saturday and Sunday we had rehearsal all day long. I can’t say I hated it. I love being in rehearsal, especially when we are working on something as fun as Hamlet.

On Sunday, Sarah, Lindsay, and I had dinner on a boat in Regent’s Canal. There is a Chinese food restaurant that is located on a (stationary) boat. The food was delicious and the view was beautiful. We were happy campers.

Monday we rehearsed from 9-9, with a brief rehearsal in the space in the morning. And Tuesday was the performance! I am incredibly proud of the work we did on Hamlet. I would certainly rank it among the top performances I’ve given and it was in part because of all the fantastic work being done around me but also because James Kerr (our director) is one of the more brilliant people I’ve met in my life. It took me a while to fully understand what his process was and how it worked for me. By the time we performed, though, I had a much clearer understanding of it all. It was suddenly crystal clear to me how simply saying the words without adding applied emotion to them brought it all to a place of real and honest feelings, feelings that were much more moving than demonstrating emotions. We had fun, did good work, and left it all on stage which is all I could ever ask for. By the time we were finished, my bottom was bruised, my thumb had been burnt, my feet were black, and my knees were red but I really couldn’t have been happier.

Unfortunately, finishing Hamlet meant that LAMDA was nearly over. Wednesday and Thursday we had some final classes mixed in with tutorials. Wednesday, my group had clown with Michael and movement with Yorgos. In clown, we worked on some routines that poked fun at some of the skills and exercises we had been doing all semester. In Yorgos’ class, we worked toward creating some movement phrases based on dreams or nightmares we have and also based on some descriptive sentences regarding our lives. It was a physically demanding day and I am still sore from it but it was rewarding. Thursday I met with Debbie, Caryll, George, Diana, and James. Each tutor gave me feedback from all the tutors from that particular department: acting, singing, voice, movement, and our project respectively. There were no surprises in the notes that I was getting but it was nice to hear positive and constructive feedback in such an organized fashion. It has given me a lot to take home with me in terms of things to continue working on and things that have worked well.

Our last activity yesterday was showcasing some clown, some historical dance, and our movement pieces to everyone. Again, it was physically demanding but we left it all on the floor, all of us working at 110%. Sweaty, sore, and tired, we waddled into V1 to receive our diplomas and have a final farewell party. The wine and sandwiches were plentiful and some tearful goodbyes were said. It was really challenging to have to say goodbye to the tutors who taught me so much about myself, my work, and my artistry over the past semester. I can only hope that our lives will cross paths again someday sooner rather than later. Pictures were snapped and tight hugs were given. Parting is such sweet sorrow…

This is one last group shot with Diana and George being fabulous at the front.

This is a photo of me, Nicolas, and George.

This is me, Sarah, and Teresa outside LAMDA with our envelopes containing our diplomas.

This is me, Sarah, Teresa, and Lindsay – the three ladies without whom I would never have survived this semester.

This is Sarah Gage, me, Lindsay, and Ruhaan – the four Hamlets.

When I got home last night, I had to pack up everything. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but I was reminded of how massive my suitcase is… Oh boy. I also Skyped with Bekah for a while. Aaaand while I’m on the subject of Bekah… I have to brag again about how excited and proud I am because she got into the BU in Hollywood program and I am SO HAPPY FOR HER!!

This morning, Sarah, Teresa, Lindsay, and I went out for brunch at The Diner on Gloucester Road. We ate SO MUCH YUMMY FOOD. But then, when it was over, we had to say goodbye. Sarah and Teresa were off to Paris and on to their Euro trip adventure. I know that none of these are really goodbyes, they are simply see you laters. But it is still so hard to know that you are going from seeing these wonderful people every single day to having to plan special visits to see them. These three ladies, and everyone that I worked with at LAMDA, have truly made an impression on my life and I am changed for the better for having known them.

Fortunately, I could not dwell in this sadness too long because….. LINDSAY AND I WENT TO THE MAKING OF HARRY POTTER AT THE WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS IN ENGLAND. The caps lock was definitely necessary and doesn’t even begin to capture my excitement. I grew up with Harry Potter. The books defined my childhood and the movies will always have a special place in my heart. We saw the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid’s hut, the Burrow, the Ministry of Magic, the Knight Bus, the model of Hogwarts. We got to fly on broomsticks, drink butterbeer, and see the REAL LIVE OWL that played Hedwig, and so much more. It was magical and I loved every second.

Earlier this evening, I had to go say goodbye to Caleb and Christian. I am really not good with goodbyes but it is helpful to know I’ll be seeing them within the next few months whenever I plan my visit to Boston. Now I am at Amy’s flat (which she was nice enough to let me stay at while she and John are away for the weekend) preparing to go to Bath tomorrow. I have a busy next few days but they should be exciting and fun, as well. Bath tomorrow, Berlin on Sunday, London for Shakespeare’s birthday, Paris, and then home! A whirlwind end to a whirlwind semester.

Until next time!

Cheers.

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 : )

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 : )

“Oh sister, sister. If ever you marry beware of a sullen, silent, sot. One who’s always musing but never thinks!”

Thus began one of my monologues in our Restoration project. I spent every day of last week wearing a corset tied tightly around my torso, character shoes that are at least 6 years old, and a rehearsal skirt that spins when I twirl. We rehearsed with Tina and George (our voice coach for our project) all day, making sure we had a really great show to perform come Thursday. Our hard work paid off and we put on what I think was an impressive display of various Restoration scenes, a Restoration song, and a Restoration dance (courtesy of Diana, in which I played a drunken man named Sir Harry, one of my finer roles if I do say so myself).

Our group performed first on Thursday morning and we got to watch the two other groups perform after we were finished. I was pleasantly surprised by everyone. It was clear each of us put in a lot of work and have been benefitting from the training we are receiving. It was great fun to finally see what we’ve all been working on for the past few weeks. Here is a (slightly out of focus) picture of my whole cast with Tina and George in the center.

Friday morning, we came to LAMDA for tutorials. Tutorials are essentially one on one conversations with tutors or directors in which they give feedback and critiques. I met with Tina for about 15 minutes and she gave me a lot of interesting things to think about as I continue but she was also quite complimentary, which was kind and very nice to hear.

I’ve forgotten to mention that Caitlin was in town this week! Yay GW spring break! I met up with Caitlin to grab some coffee early in the week, saw her and Amy after rehearsals one day, and also saw her on Friday. It’s always so funny to see someone you’re very used to seeing in one context, one city in a totally different city and context. It was wonderful to see Caitlin and catch up! I got to hear all about her life and the GW gossip and tell her all about LAMDA and my adventures. I can’t think of a better way to break up a long week of rehearsals.

Friday evening, I headed to Victoria Coach Station. Why, you ask? Well… a group of us were traveling to Scotland. At approximately 10:30pm, Michael, Sarah, Teresa, Christian, Caleb, Jae, Hannah, Lindsay, and I boarded a bus bound for Edinburgh. After a hellish 8 and a half hours on the bus, we arrived in Edinburgh around 6:45am. We took the Night Bus, one might say! Our Pollyanna-style optimism led us to believe we were going to get a good night’s sleep on the bus and be refreshed, ready-to-go when we arrived. Umm… not quite. Between the man in front of me deciding he needed to recline his seat ALL THE WAY BACK (I have never wanted to physically harm a human being more than when he kept slamming his chair into my knees…) and the general discomfort of sitting on a bus for 8 hours, we did not arrive quite as bright eyed and bushy tailed as we had hoped.

Thankfully, the hostel allowed us to check in and take a nap in one of their many lounges. The hostel… Castle Rock Hostel. I highly recommend this place to anyone and everyone. Across the street from Edinburgh Castle (no, I’m not exaggerating), it is clean, massive, and has some of the friendliest staff I’ve ever come across. We happily accepted their offer of nap taking and Teresa and I settled into a couch in the Posh Lounge. After sleeping for a bit (and honestly doing some semi-supine in an attempt to realign my spine), we woke up with ravenous appetites for food and exploration. Food we satisfied by going to an amazing place around the corner called Hula. The waitress was around our age and extremely nice. I had a hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows (YUM) and a bagel sandwich which had brie, cranberry sauce, tomatoes, and bacon (YUMMMM). Everyone enjoyed their meals thoroughly and then we set off to go on the free Edinburgh walking tour. Free? Did you read that right? Yes you did! But the 11am tour was full so pause on that for a moment…

Since the 11 o’clock tour was full, we decided to wander down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Armed with our free audio tours and maps of the palace, we began to explore. What a remarkable place… It is still a functioning palace: the Queen’s official residence when she is in Scotland. But it also has a storied past as it was the home to Mary Queen of Scots and various other Scottish monarchs. We explored for a while and then emerged into the ruins of the old abbey.

Exploring the ruins alone was worth the price of admission. Well, really the whole experience was absolutely worth it. I was largely unaware of the dramatic period of history that took place within the walls of this old palace. It was also interesting to see rooms where the carpets were simply rolled up to the line of the velvet ropes, clearly ready to be unrolled whenever the palace functioned as a home and a place for state functions to occur. Dad said this was a sight not to be missed and he was certainly right. Here is our whole group outside the palace.

From the palace, we headed back up the Royal Mile to go on the 2 o’clock tour. Sitting in Starbucks for a brief moment to rest our feet and caffeinate ourselves, we soon headed outside into the brisk and chilling wind. Ben was our friendly tour guide and we soon set off on our tour. In our 2 1/2 hours, we walked to the City Chambers. We stopped at the Mercat Cross (where the town crier would deliver news and where thieves would be nailed to the door by their ear for a period of 24 hours). Next we stood outside St. Giles’ Cathedral, hearing about Scotland’s religious history which is a little muddy due to England’s bipolar relationship with religion and Scotland and England’s bipolar relationship. We wandered by the Writers’ Museum and discussed the fact that Edinburgh has been, and still is, a major hub for important writers through the ages. Something about the town truly inspires literary genius. Ben pointed out the “original Hogwarts,” an old school building that still functions today. From The Elephant Bar, JK Rowling would have been able to see this school and Edinburgh Castle. It’s not hard to imagine her combining the two to create the magical world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can see the old school building in the background of this picture.

In the foreground is part of Grassmarket. Today, the area is filled with pubs and shops but throughout history it was the site of witch burnings. We walked by the oldest building in Edinburgh, dating back to medieval times. It is closed in the winter because there is no heating but the outside alone was quite picturesque. Continuing our wander through the city, we soon came to Greyfriars Cemetery. Most famous for the story of Greyfriars Bobby (a dog that slept on his deceased master’s grave for 14 years), this cemetery is also famous for a couple other reasons. For one, JK Rowling took some of her character names from headstones in the graveyard. You can go there and see Tom Riddle’s grave, McGonagall’s grave, and a few others. Also here is the Covenanters’ Prison. The covenanters were members of the Scottish Presbyterian movement when England tried to convert the whole country to Catholicism. The outspoken Presbyterian supporters were imprisoned here, in the open air, with hardly any food, and were tortured. Now, this area is gated and only opened at night as part of a ghost tour. Even being there in the day was eery… I cannot imagine walking through there at night.

On a lighter note, we finished the tour by rubbing the nose of the statue of Greyfriars Bobby for luck and passing by The Elephant House, where JK Rowling wrote books one and two of Harry Potter. After our tour, we were quite tired and cold so we returned to our hostel to get settled in our rooms. We showered and got ready to go out on the town for dinner, where we all tried at least one bite of haggis (not nearly as bad as I expected). It was Lindsay’s birthday so ate, danced, and were merry.

The next morning, my alarm went off at 4am. We had decided to do a sunrise hike up Arthur’s Seat. Groggily, we got dressed as warmly as we could and set off. The hike took us up what we began to affectionately call The Demon Stairs, as well as just some generally steep terrain. Eventually, we made it to the top and sat down to wait for the sun to appear. It was absolutely frigid and the wind was blowing nearly hard enough to literally blow you over. It was beautiful, though. The lights of the city, the sea in the distance, and (soon enough) the sky began to glow.

Finally, the sun was mostly up. Its rays did not provide much warmth, though, and we were chilled to the bone. We decided to head back down. Walking back down, we marveled at how we possibly did the hike in the dark. Impressed, but cold, we returned to the hostel to get warm and sleep until the rest of the world had woken up. After sleeping until a more appropriate hour to begin the day, we set out for breakfast at our trusty Hula. Then, we went to Edinburgh Castle which we explored thoroughly. It was picturesque but I think I’m a little castled-out. I was much more impressed with Holyroodhouse. Don’t get me wrong, it was lovely and I’m very glad we saw it. But it was just a typical castle and has been turned into too much of a tourist attraction for my taste.

Once we had finished at the castle, we splintered off into smaller groups to do our own thing before we had to head to the airport. Sarah, Christian, Lindsay, and I decided to go check out the quaint shops on Grassmarket and along the Royal Mile. There were lots of cute knick-knacks but I refrained from buying too many things. I did find a beautiful dress in one of the shops and I think I shall wear it to Emily’s graduation. (Emily’s graduating… I feel like an old lady…) Sarah bought an adorable sweater with a mallard on it.

We all met back up around 4:30pm for a late lunch/early dinner of fish and chips and Scottish beer. We then collected our things from the hostel and boarded the bus to take us to the airport. Then we boarded our flight which passed without incident until I got yelled at by an old, crazy woman because I turned my phone on when we landed. Apparently in the UK it is still against the rules to use your phone until you get to the gate and are parked and disembarking. Being a stupid American, I assumed the rules in the US are the rules everywhere and turned on my phone. This woman was genuinely afraid for her life and kept yelling at me to turn my phone off. At the time I was really upset by this but now I think it’s kind of funny. She legitimately thought I had a death wish and planned to carry it out by turning on my phone too soon. Ah… ignorant people…

The weekend passed in the blink of an eye. I’m so glad I got the chance to go back to Edinburgh, and with such a fantastic group of people. It was a weekend of exploring, adventures, and laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face. Thank god for new friends and fun adventures.

(photo credit to the lovely Sarah Muirhead)

This week of school has been pretty standard, as we returned to a more or less normal class schedule. We have started work on our next project and my group will be working on Hamlet. I’m extremely excited because for all the times I’ve read Hamlet and studied it in classes, I’ve never had the opportunity to explore it solely as an actor. It should be a fun, interesting, enlightening experience, particularly because our director is James. We’ve already had some unique and fascinating conversations. Tomorrow we are going to the Portrait Gallery to explore and be inspired by creepy portraits of British monarchs.

Monday night, we had a master class with the director of singing, Rob Archibald. It was a fun class in which we worked through the best ways to approach songs. He is a big believer in approaching a song first as you would approach a monologue. The melody and notes come later but more important is figuring out the message and meaning. This was a very helpful message to receive as someone who is most definitely an actor first and singer last. I wish we had him more than just this one time. He is a brilliant teacher and, even in one class, I learned a lot from him.

Last night, I went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with some friends from LAMDA. It is a musical based on the 1988 film with Michael Caine and Steve Martin. The show was very funny and I loved the choreography and the music. The cast worked well together and were quite talented, though their strength was acting more than singing. The singing wasn’t bad, their acting was simply better. Seeing such a fun, light-hearted show was a nice break from some of the more artistic things I’m doing and seeing while here.

We really only have two more week of truly normal classes. Then we move into all day, every day rehearsals again. And then, all too soon, we perform our tragedies projects and are awarded our diplomas from LAMDA. We have less than a month left at LAMDA and I fly back home in just over a month. It’s crazy how fast time is flying… Although I feel like I have expressed a similar sentiment in every post. I suppose I’ll have to just accept it at some point…. Like on the plane out of Heathrow…

Until next time : )

Cheers.

Last week was quite a whirlwind… This was mainly due to the fact that the schedule was completely different from the pretty standardized schedule we had gotten used to in the previous half of the term.

Monday was filled with Dance Night rehearsals. For our group, that meant meeting with Diana for two 1 1/2 long sessions of going over the linear carole. The linear carole is a dance dating back to the medieval period where the group holds hands in a line and the leader sets off, creating patterns with the line by zigging and zagging across the space. There are also various “figures” you can do such as winding the group into a spiral and then with a pivot and a turn unwinding the group from said spiral. With all 38 of us doing this, it looked pretty amazing.

Dance Night gave each group a chance to show off what we’ve all been working on across the school. Every level performed at least one movement number. Most of the levels performed 2 or 3. It was such a fun night and it was amazing to see what everyone at the school gets up to in their movement classes. There was everything from very traditional historical dances to tap routines to modern dance to hip hop. Our linear carole closed the night and, since every single person at LAMDA knows how to do this dance, the whole school was cheering us on which made it even more fun than usual.

For the rest of the week, classes pretty much resumed as usual. Tuesday we had a master class with Judith, the director of the voice department. She led us in an incredible vocal warm up and then we explored some Richard III text together. We worked in such detail and specificity, relying entirely on the text to answer our questions and reveal the character of Richard to us. One of the things we looked at was the length of the phrases in his first monologue (“Now is the winter of our discontent”) versus his monologue at the end of the play (“Richard loves Richard, that is I am I”). The phrases in the first are long and poetic while the latter has short, terse phrases that seem to demonstrate an uneasy mind in turmoil. Judith was really great to work with and I wish we had her for weekly classes. Since we don’t, though, I’m glad we got to work with her for the evening.

Wednesday evening I went to see La Bohème at the Royal Albert Hall. This was the first opera I have ever seen and I absolutely loved it. The music was heartbreakingly beautiful and on several occasions gave me chills. Everything about it was breathtaking – the set, the costumes, the voices, and the production. I think what at least partially contributed to my awe was that I didn’t understand what was happening in front of me in any capacity. I mean, yes, I understood the story and the character relationships but the art of opera is something I am entirely unfamiliar with. I don’t know what goes into preparing for it, I certainly have no idea how those people sing with the power that they do, and the list goes on and on. When I go see ballet or theatre, I have an acute sense of what goes into those productions so I analyze and find myself being hyper critical. It was an unusual feeling to sit back, relax, and simply let the production wash over me. The theatre was stunning, as well, which certainly contributed to my incredible experience. Close your eyes and picture a stereotypical, classic, old opera house. Now turn that space into a stage in the round. I can almost guarantee that the classic beauty you just pictured in your head is what the Royal Albert Hall looks like. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a theatre like that before. I have a new dream venue… I can’t even imagine what it would be like to perform there.

On Thursday, we had two new classes – yoga and tai chi. Both were wonderful and I wish we could begin every morning with yoga. Tai chi was interesting because our tutor showed us how it really is a calming, grounding, “soft” martial art and yet we also did movements that were truly self defense based. I started to notice that a lot of the movements we did worked with the idea that the person who would be perceived as being in control could lose that control extremely easily at the hands of the other person. I really enjoyed tai chi and look forward to having it again soon.

Friday evening, LAMDA went back to the 90s for our 1990s themed “Sleazy.” The Sleazy is basically just a massive talent show which happened to be 90s themed this year. People came decked out in full 90s gear and many people performed in the show. Pretty much all the performers sang a song and/or played an instrument. Great… as if people here needed to be more talented than they already are. It was a really fun night. I enjoy all these events that bring us together as a school rather than constantly keeping us separated as levels.

This week, I spent an extra day at LAMDA as our rehearsal group met up to do a line-through of our show on Saturday morning. We finished that around 12:30 and I headed to Piccadilly Circus to meet Hannah and try to get tickets to some matinee show. We tried for Blithe Spirit but that was too expensive so we opted for seeing Grand Budapest Hotel instead. I think we made the right choice. This film in amazing. I don’t want to ruin anything because this is a movie worth seeing with relatively little knowledge about it. I will say, though, that the acting is brilliant and the story truly transports you to another time and place. It captures your attention, your intellect, and your heart and holds all three until the end. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend the film.

After the movie, we wandered around, going to Neal’s Yard where there is a pizza place called Homeslice. We will be back. We even saw where one of the Monty Python guys used to live. Then, we met up with some more friends for dinner and then I met Sarah, Teresa, and Caleb at Ghost Stories. They convinced me to face my fears and see a show advertised as “truly terrifying” and “not for those with weak dispositions.” While it lived up to its name and we all audibly screamed on more than one occasion, it was actually pretty fun and I enjoyed. Once we were done being scared out of our minds, I headed to Ariana’s apartment to meet up with a group of people and watch A Night at the Opera. Nothing like some classic Marx Brothers to forget about a scary play.

Sunday the weather was wonderfully beautiful, just as it had been the day before. Spring has sprung over here in London! I couldn’t be happier. After going for a walk in the sunshine, I decided to properly see the Victoria and Albert Museum. Entering its halls at 11:45, I wandered aimlessly through their massive collection. Stopping for a brief lunch break in the beautiful cafe, I finally emerged at 3:00 having seen the entire world timeline of jewelry, an entire exhibition on theatre and performance art, Raphael paintings, Bernini sculptures, the history of fashion, Japanese art, Chinese art, a collection of European art through the ages, and much more.

The collection there is unparalleled, certainly unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. I am planning to dedicate the coming weekends to visiting London’s museums as I have been shamefully neglecting them and I know I will regret that. This visit alone made me miss the familiar walls of the National Gallery in DC.

When I finally emerged into the sunlight, it was too lovely to simply walk home and stay cooped up so I got an ice cream cone and sat in a little square around the corner from the South Kensington tube station. I ate my ice cream, got a dose of Vitamin D (something I’ve been severely lacking since arriving in London…), and then headed home to begrudgingly work on my class schedule for next semester and some summer internship applications. It’s really hard to be motivated to work on those kinds of things when you could be out enjoying the rare London sunshine. But, alas…

As is wont to happen here, the weekend all too soon ended and it was back to school today. This week we have rehearsals all day, every day, because we perform our Restoration projects for each other on Thursday. Our show is in pretty good shape and I’m excited to show it to the rest of our group. Restoration is fun and I’ve enjoyed learning about the style but I am really ready to get back to Shakespeare.

As my time in London begins to dwindle conspicuously, I can’t help but be sad and happy all at once. I’m homesick but only for the people who aren’t here in London with me. I wish I could bring my family and friends (and Norman and Coconut) over here and then we could all just stay here forever. I miss everyone terribly but fall in love with this city all over again every day.

Here’s to the remaining month and half of adventures to be had.

Until next time…

Cheers.

I got a text yesterday from Mom saying “Must.have.new.blog.post.” Sorry Mom… I didn’t quite realize how long it has been since I’ve written. It’s been a busy few days but they’ve been filled with adventures.

Last Saturday, I spent most of my day in Hyde Park. I needed to memorize a couple things for the upcoming week at school and simply sitting in my room wasn’t accomplishing much. Instead, I wandered around Hyde Park in some crisp London sunshine, taking photographs and people watching. By the late afternoon, I had found a solitary bench from which I could work on my scripts and still people watch, without being observed talking to myself by too many people.

That evening, I met up with Hannah and we went to this amazing Italian restaurant in Piccadilly Circus. It’s called Bocca Di Lupo and has reportedly become the favorite West End actor hang out. We showed up, without a reservation, hoping for the best, and were quickly seated at the counter. It was 7:00 and we were told we had our spots until 8:15. Everyone was pleasant and extremely nice and we didn’t mind the time limit, we just wanted some delicious food. I had a spinach ravioli with spicy sausage (made at the restaurant) and pecorino. Hannah had orecchiette with a different kind of spicy sausage, red onions, and tomatoes. The food was delicious. I could have eaten 15 more plates of pasta simply because it was so good. For dessert we ordered profiteroles filled with gelato. Everything was delicious and it was nice to treat ourselves to a civilized restaurant meal. After we finished dinner, we wandered around Piccadilly Circus for a while, dodging the hordes of tourists along the way. We eventually ducked into a place that advertised live music and sat and listened to a band that was kind of indie-rock style and they weren’t half bad. Tired and full of good food, we finally headed home to sleep.

Sunday the weather was pretty bad, inspiring me to spend most of the day relaxing and continuing to work on my scripts. For one of the brief moments that the weather seemed to clear, I went for a walk around South Kensington for some fresh air and exploring.

Monday was a pretty standard day of school. In rehearsal, I wore my corset for the first time for all 3 1/2 hours of rehearsal. I am truly unsure how women wore them all the time, everyday, all day. Sure, it helps a lot with posture and gives you a ridiculous figure but it is so uncomfortable. After wearing it for about 30 minutes, you kind of forget the discomfort and settle in to having this thing tightened around your body. But, as soon as you loosen the strings to take it off, you’re reminded how liberating it is to not be wearing a corset. I shouldn’t complain though. I love being able to wear one for our work on our Restoration project. Wearing it to work on our scene, I could feel it helping me find my character and embrace the hyper-stylized work of Restoration comedy.

After rehearsal, I hurried to Piccadilly Circus, hoping to get in line for day-of student tickets to The 39 Steps. The theatre it is at sells £15 student tickets at 7 pm, an hour before the show begins. At 6:12 I walked up to the box office window to double check that they even had tickets to sell for the performance that night. The man asked how many I needed and I replied, “Just one!” He looked at his computer screen and said, “Oh alright. Let’s just take care of it now.” So at 6:18 I walked out of the theatre with a 4th row center seat for £15 for that evening’s performance. Theatres here really know how to treat students properly. Thank you, London theatre. I grabbed a quick sandwich and tea at a Cafe Nero across the street and then spent the remainder of my time in Waterstones (British Barnes and Noble) where I tried desperately to resist the urge to purchase anything but, in the end, walked out with Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Still, I only purchased one book so I think that’s a pretty good testament to my willpower.

The 39 Steps was quite entertaining. It is a show adapted from a 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film. The cast contains exactly 4 actors – one actor who plays the hero, one actress who plays the three different women he falls in love with over the course of the story, and two actors who play every single other role, sometimes switching hats, voices, and physicality in the middle of a sentence. The show was quite funny and I enjoyed but it is definitely not my favorite thing that I’ve seen. The physical comedy wasn’t quite as clean and crisp as a show like this really demands and, at times, it felt like the actors were kind of just going through the motions. I think the show has been open for a while which might explain this but, still, I had high expectations that weren’t quite met. Don’t get me wrong, though, I was thoroughly entertained and it was nice to spend an evening giggling at silly humor. (I was pleased, though, that I only paid a small price for my ticket while those around me paid probably 4 times as much. Yay student prices!)

The next day was a pretty standard Tuesday and that evening I headed to Amy’s new flat to visit. Yay Amy and John! Your new flat is beautiful and your housemates are really cool. Plus it’s only a 10 minute walk from LAMDA so that’s super convenient. Amy was kind enough to make dinner so we ate our pasta and caught up.

Wednesday morning we met at LAMDA at 9:00 and boarded a bus to Stratford-upon-Avon. I was giddy with excitement and, after about two and a half hours, we arrived in Stratford. After checking into our hotel, we were sent off to explore, find some lunch, and meet for the matinee performance of Wolf Hall at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre. A few of us wandered around the small town (thank goodness it wasn’t raining) and settled on a little dock on the river in the sunshine to wait until it was time for the show.

This was our view from where we sat. You can see Holy Trinity Church in the background, rising out of the trees. We decided to go visit the church, as we had plenty of time before we needed to be at the theatre. Wandering through the RSC Gardens and down a quaint, little road we arrived at the church and were welcomed inside. The inside is beautifully preserved and the windows are full of vibrant colors of paint and stained glass. At the altar of the church is Shakespeare’s grave, surrounded by his wife’s, daughter’s, and son-in-law’s graves. After seeing the grave, we wandered back through the church and marveled at the idea that Shakespeare himself came to worship here. We know so little about this man and yet there we were, standing in a place we know he would have visited during his life.

Finally it was time for the show so we headed to the theatre and settled into our seats. Wolf Hall is the first part of a duo of shows, the second is called Bring Up The Bodies, which we saw that evening. The shows are adapted from the the novels of the same names. They tell the familiar story of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and England’s break with the Catholic church. While a familiar story to nearly everyone, it is told in a rather unfamiliar way. It is told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is nearly always portrayed as the ultimate villain of this era of history, with stories having been told from Henry’s perspective, Anne’s perspective, and Thomas More’s perspective. Instead, this adaptation made you sympathize with Cromwell. Wolf Hall ends just as Henry realizes his shifting affections towards Jane Seymour. Bring Up The Bodies ends with Henry’s marriage to Jane. These plays are written is fairly vernacular, modern-day English but the productions set them truly in their time period. The costumes were true to period and most of the mannerisms were as well. During the first half of Wolf Hall, the actors seemed to be struggling to inhabit this world that straddled two very distinct time periods. Their words were modern but their costumes were stiffly Tudor. To me, it seemed that it took them a while to figure out how to enter the same world all together. It felt a bit disjointed at times and like each character was existing just fine on his/her own but not in harmony with everyone else on stage. They eventually hit their stride and, once they did, it was riveting. The acting was really solid and I particularly liked the actors who played Thomas Cromwell and King Henry. As the story continued in Bring Up The Bodies, I was further enthralled and swept up into this world of political games and changing hearts. Again, the actors playing Cromwell and Henry shined. Between the two shows, we spent about 6 1/2 hours in the theatre that day. I enjoyed both pieces but didn’t love them. I thought the actors and director were extremely talented but the writing was lacking. I wanted to be swept away with this story and leave the theatre still thinking about it but instead I found myself too often bored with a stoic scene. Again, though, the actors and the way it was staged and directed were what blew my mind. Even after 6 1/2 hours, I could have watched those actors all day long, despite the lackluster script.

When we returned to our hotel, the actor who played King Henry VIII was sitting at the hotel bar. A group of us were down there too and ended up talking to him for about 2 hours. I am still kicking myself that I didn’t go down there too but… oh well. He graduated from LAMDA and was apparently all too happy to talk to everyone. He approached them, recognizing some of them from the audience, and thanking us for being such a great audience. (Apparently the cast had been talking backstage about how wonderful an audience they had all day. You’re welcome, cast, you’re welcome.) He then proceeded to talk to them about his career, the rehearsal processes of these shows, and gave them a ton of advice (which they have all subsequently shared with the rest of us). The next morning, he was downstairs at breakfast at the same time and came over to say hello to our group. It was so impressive and so generous of him to do all this. He was truly one of the stand-out actors in the shows because he played Henry as a human being. I think all too often people playing a king or queen try to play the power of their title. But the reality is that kings and queens simply inhabit that power. They’ve been raised knowing that they have it so they don’t have to put on airs, it is simply who they are. This actor (Nathaniel Parker) embodied the power and did not try too hard to show off that he was king. His authority simply existed, no questions asked. At the same time, though, he brilliantly portrayed the vulnerability of a rather young king with an ever changing heart. When he fell in love with Anne you truly believed he was in love with this woman. And when he fell in love with Jane, you genuinely believed he was in love with her. His vulnerability allowed the audience to feel for Henry and understand his fear and confusion while also recognizing his authority as monarch. Parker’s performance was truly impressive.

Breakfast and dinner were included in our stay at the hotel so Thursday morning we feasted at an American-sized breakfast buffet. Following breakfast, we boarded the bus for a tour of Stratford. Claire was our tour guide and we drove around the city center as she told us various historical fun facts about the town. Then we headed a little bit out of town to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. This is where the Hathaway family lived until 1846. Shakespeare wouldn’t have lived here but we can imagine he came to visit while wooing Anne. (For a more PG-13 version of the story, we might put wooing in quotation marks because, in reality, Anne was 3 months pregnant when they got married. Just saying…) We were taken through the house by a friendly tour guide named David, seen here:

It is a pretty big cottage for a family in those days which means that the Hathaways were pretty well off. As David explained things in each room, he would also point out the origins of various idioms that we still use today. Claire had done the same on the bus on our way to the cottage. Some idiom origins that got explained: good night sleep tight, upper crust, under his thumb, bed and board, cold shoulder, frog in your throat, chairman of the board, and bonfire. I am more than happy to explain each one to you so ask away if you’re curious!

After exploring the cottage, we were left to wander around the gardens and surrounding open space. Thank goodness the weather was cooperating, the sun was shining and there were only a couple puffy white clouds in the sky. Wandering included lots of picture taking and sonnet reciting. Thank god we are all nerds enough to indulge each other.

The next stop on our tour was Shakespeare’s Birthplace. 

After exploring the Birthplace for a while, a few of us went to get some afternoon tea across the street. Full of delicious tea and scones, we then walked around the town for a little while.

At 3, I headed back to the hotel for a workshop that LAMDA had organized. The workshop was led by a woman who co-runs a theatre group just outside of Stratford. She has done work with the RSC and her husband and son are both working actors. We looked at some Richard II  text, exploring some of it for a short time. The workshop was only an hour and fifteen minutes but, having studied Richard and friends in great detail earlier this term, it was fun to return to the script once more. It was like visiting old friends once again.

Soon after the workshop, it was time to feast on an American-sized buffet dinner. We ate so much food and then headed back to the RSC to see Wendy and Peter Pan, a re-telling of the classic Peter Pan story with all the characters we know and love just slightly differently told. This show was spectacular. From the acting to the design to the direction to the tech, this show didn’t miss a thing. There is something about revisiting childhood stories again as an adult, or at least as someone who is all too quickly becoming an adult. I wish that all of you could see this show because it is a show that, I think, would be loved by the whole world. Every person on stage was so fully in the world of the play that the audience was swept up in it too. The children in the audience remained enthralled throughout the performance. There was a little girl in the audience whose giggle carried through the entire theatre. There was a little boy in the second row who had a wooden sword grasped tightly in his hand and when Peter Pan happened to be standing in the aisle next to him, the little boy stared up at Peter like he had seen his hero come to life. Us grown-up kids in the balcony were captivated. By the time the end of the show came, my face was covered in tears and they wouldn’t stop falling. Thank god those around me were experiencing similar waterworks issues. The concept of the show was impressive. Half the time Peter was flying, it wasn’t via a cable. It was a group of six people who were his “shadow” and they would pick him up and spin him around. Even when the Darling children and Peter really did fly, the show was unafraid to show the audience the cables that enabled this because they knew we would all still believe it anyway. It was a truly beautiful show that reminded me the importance of play, dreams, and adventures. It reminded me that theatre has the power to tell incredibly meaningful stories that move people. It reminded me that an excited child lives inside all of us and we can never allow that child to be stifled. It reminded me that the theatre is a place where I get to live out my dreams, have adventures, and, most importantly, a place where I will never have to truly grow up. It reminded me that all it takes is a little fairy dust and a happy thought to make everything ok.

You can see the trailer for the show here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHTplamJPNQ

Friday morning, we had to board the bus to leave Stratford, much to my dismay. Despite not wanting to leave, we all boarded the bus and headed to Warwick Castle. This castle is quite pretty and in the middle of a quaint, countryside town. The castle was bought in 1978 by Madame Tussauds. (Subsequently, the Tussauds group was purchased by Merlin Entertainment so now it’s technically owned by Merlin.) Madame Tussauds has turned it into what feels like a tourist trap in the truest sense of the phrase which is a shame, but it has also allowed a lot of money to be poured into conservation of such a historic place. Something has stood on this site since 914 which makes the castle 1,100 years old. It passed through many, many hands over the ages but what struck me as quite interesting is the fact that the most recent family to own it used it as a house until 1978 when they were forced to sell it because they had run out of money. This was a home to people until so recently… Too often I tuck these castles way back into history, viewing them as mere museum pieces now. This fact reminded me that these functioned as people’s homes where children were born and raised and family’s existed. It was fun to explore the castle and its grounds, despite the rather terrible weather we had that day. We climbed the towers, climbed the hill onto the oldest part of the castle dating from Roman times, and even did a little historical dance in the great hall.

We eventually returned to London and headed to our respective flats. A couple of us met back up later that evening to watch the new Tom Hiddleston movie, Only Lovers Left Alive. It was pretty boring but we enjoyed each other’s company and the acting wasn’t half bad. Exhausted from our trip, we all quickly said goodnight and headed home to sleep.

Yesterday, Jane Thompson (Amy’s mom) was in town. Amy was going to be at work all day so I volunteered to play tour guide. Being from England, Jane has seen pretty much all the touristy things there are to do so we opted for seeing a show instead. Amy said that Jane wanted to see Matilda and I have honestly been waiting for an excuse to wake up early to try and score day-of tickets so this worked out perfectly. I arrived at the theatre at 7am to wait for the box office to open at 10am. I was first in line which meant we were definitely getting tickets and I was very excited. Lindsay came to join me in line and we worked on our lines and I worked on my RP night scene. We were a living cliche of actors waiting in line for cheap theatre tickets while working on their lines. Amy even stopped by to say hello on her way to work. Finally the box office opened and I got our tickets for the matinee. I met Jane at her hotel at noon and we grabbed a quick sandwich and tea before heading towards Leicester Square. We popped in to visit Amy at work and then walked to Trafalgar Square to see the blue rooster statue on the usually empty plinth in the corner of the square. Everywhere we walked, we were battling a ridiculous number of tourists which was a little annoying but such is life I suppose. We headed back towards the theatre and took our seats for the show.

We had incredible seats (thank you, Jane!!) and the show was wonderful. The little kids in the show ranged from ages 9-14. They were so impressive, often dancing the choreography better than the adults. The staging was incredibly creative and possibly one of the coolest parts of the show. The set design was ingenious and the costumes quite funny. Every element of the show came together to create a whimsical world of magic and stories. I am so happy I got to see this show and highly recommend it to anyone in New York or London.

After the show, Jane and I grabbed a cup of tea while waiting for Amy to get off of work. Then, we met up with Amy and walked to Chinatown to get dinner. We went to the Royal Dragon and ate an impressive amount of delicious, authentic Chinese food. Everything was so good and we all enjoyed thoroughly. We parted ways and Jane returned to her hotel and Amy and I went to Amy’s house warming party. This was great because it meant I got to meet all of John’s friends that Amy has been telling me stories about for the past year and a half. They were all as funny and nice as she had made them seem and we had a great time.

I can’t believe another weekend is about to draw to a close. Time is flying and I am trying to make sure I soak in every passing second. Our timetable is on a piece of paper that is double sided, with the first half of the term on the front and the second half on the other side. I remember when they handed them out and it felt like the point when we would have to flip them over was so far away, almost unattainable. And yet, here we are. Monday marks the flip of the timetable, a rather trivial thing in the grand scheme of the world but a physical reminder that our term is half over. So bizarre… Now I’m off to go do some homework and maybe go brave the crowds at the V&A.

Until next time…

Cheers.

This past Friday, amidst a cloud of perfume, roses, chocolates, and wine, I braved the bus to go meet Emma when she arrived in London!! Due to some particularly terrible London rain and wind, her flight was delayed a bit but got in with plenty of time to get some dinner and catch up. Her friend from Swarthmore is also studying abroad in London so the three of us met up to get dinner. I chose Nando’s because who doesn’t love a good chicken sandwich? We had a delicious dinner and then Emma and I headed back to my room. Turns out the shoebox is big enough to sleep an additional person!! (If that person is willing to curl up on the floor for a couple nights…)

I was worried about the weather for the weekend because Friday night there were extremely gusty winds and sheets of rain falling on the city. Fortunately, Saturday morning didn’t look too bleak so we headed out to Westminster Abbey.

Like proper tourists, we picked up our free audio guide and began wandering around. Despite the slight drizzle carrying on outside, the Abbey wasn’t too terribly crowded and we could see it all with relative ease and enjoyment. I don’t think the grandeur of this building will ever cease to amaze me. The history that lives within its walls is palpable. Walking the halls, you share pathways with some of the most famous (and infamous) kings and queens of history. Standing at the various graves and memorials, you are in the company of brilliant minds, brave warriors, and regal rulers. I think my favorite area in the Abbey is the Lady Chapel, built under the orders of Henry VII. With a magnificent fan vaulted ceiling, colorful banners of family crests lining the walls, and the tombs of Mary I and Elizabeth I, it is truly a masterpiece to behold. Poets’ Corner also holds a dear place in my heart. While all the geniuses memorialized there are not interred at the Abbey, it is mind boggling to realize (in a more tangible way than a list of names) the number of great minds who have impacted this world in such a grand way through their words and thoughts alone.

After our long visit to Westminster Abbey, we ducked into a Pret a Manger to escape the rain which had picked up considerably. We enjoyed a quick lunch and then decided to walk along the South Bank. Our walk took us all the way from Westminster Bridge to the Southwark Bridge. From the Southwark Bridge, we could see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. On our way, we passed the National Theatre, The Globe, The Tate Modern, and many other beautiful South Bank sights. Walking along the South Bank is truly one of my favorite walks in London. Earlier in the day we had decided to ride the London Eye that evening so, doubling back, we got in line to board the Eye. Somehow, we managed to time everything perfectly so that we boarded at sunset. I don’t think the city has ever looked quite as lovely as it did on that ride. The sunset glowed purple, red, pink, and yellow. It bathed the city in such beautiful light.

Disembarking from the Eye, we walked back across Westminster Bridge to board the tube.

We headed to the Churchill Arms for some delicious Thai food for dinner, where Emma’s friend from Swat met up with us again. After that, we went to Leicester Square to hear some live music and hang out. Exhausted, we soon headed home for some sleep.

The next morning, we woke up and headed out towards Buckingham Palace. Stopping for some tea and breakfast, we soon joined the crowds waiting at the palace gates for the changing of the guard. We managed to find a spot not too far from the gates themselves and we waited for the ceremony to begin. While we understood none of the formalities (and probably should have downloaded the 69p app that would have explained it all in real time), it was still delightful to watch. People abandoned their posts early on because they thought they weren’t going to be able to see anything. Emma and I pushed up right against the gate just as the whole ceremony moved to the half of the palace we could see. Silly people gave up hope too quickly. Not that we were complaining… we had a front row view of everything!

Once the guards were finished changing (and strangely playing some Billy Joel songs for a while…), we snapped a picture of the three of us and headed out.

From there, we walked to the Churchill War Rooms at the other end of the park from Buckingham Palace. The next time any of you are in London run, do not walk, to the War Rooms. Descending underneath the city above, you are thrown back in time and learn more about World War II history than any AP US History class could ever teach you. You are taken through the bunker from which Churchill operated during the Blitz. Many of the rooms, though shielded by a pane of glass, look as though their inhabitants might return at any moment, having simply stepped out for a cigarette or some food. One room contains the phone from which Churchill and Roosevelt frequently spoke. The room was disguised from the outside to look like a lavatory but inside one can only imagine that some of the most important conversations of the century took place. The Map Room was my personal favorite, as it has hardly been touched since the war ended. On August 16, 1945, the lights were switched off for the first time since the war began and the room was sealed. It remained undisturbed until the government decided to open this museum in the 1980s, so undisturbed that in preparing the museum the conservators found an envelope containing a commander’s sugar ration tucked away in his desk drawer. The maps on the walls are dotted with pin holes, evidence of the meticulous tracking of Allied ships. Just as in Westminster Abbey, the history is palpable.

Needing something a bit lighter to finish Emma’s visit off with, we headed out towards Arsenal Stadium. Arsenal was playing a big game that day against Liverpool and Emma had found what the internet proclaimed as the pub from which to watch an Arsenal game. Emerging from the Tube, the streets were lined with vendors selling Arsenal gear, fish and chips, sweets, burgers, and beer. The whole area was buzzing with activity and excitement for the afternoon’s game. We wandered around, taking it all in, and finally grabbed a burger. We perched ourselves on a garden wall and watched everyone walk to the game. Then we went to the pub to watch the first half of the game before getting on the Tube so Emma wouldn’t miss her flight back to Paris. Thanks for visiting, Emma!! I had a great weekend and I hope you did too : )

This week has been flying by… There are no clown mishaps to report although as people continued to show off their “special skills” we all laughed so hard our sides hurt. It was also my day to work on my monologue with Jenny on Monday. It went pretty well and I have yet another monologue to tuck away into my repertoire. (I think that brings the total up to 5 monologues and we’re only half way done. I love it.) Tuesday we continued hearing character presentations in James’ class, followed by a pure voice class taught by George in which we focused on our ribcages and breathing to our full capacity. Following George’s class, we went to improv where we continued working on our ever important concepts (accept, listen, commit) by getting into pairs (followed by groups of 3s and 4s) to tell stories one word at a time. This yielded funny, entertaining results.

Tuesday night in rehearsal, George came in to help us with voice work while Tina rehearsed other scenes. It was immensely helpful to have a voice coach work with us on this material. He helped identify some of my bad habits and we worked to fix them. He gave very astute notes that I am working hard to apply.

Stevie continued helping us with Restoration concepts in applied voice on Wednesday. Following Stevie’s class, we learned a new historical dance with Diana and then got a nice workout with Yorgos. After our classes finished for the day, the ladies met again with Diana to get fitted for corsets. We are sharing corsets with people in the other casts so we will only have them occasionally for rehearsals but then we will all have them for our performances. Uncomfortable though they are, I think they will help us get into the style of Restoration much more.

Today the day began with singing where we sang through our Elizabethan songs one last time before she assigned us Restoration songs. Then we went to combat where I always feel like a total badass which continued today as we learned more and more fight choreography. My badass factor only slipped a bit when Christina used me to demonstrate the shoulder shove. After explaining that we would almost certainly do it wrong the first time because our natural instinct is to absorb the shock with our upper body/torso, she shoved me with little warning and I went flying backwards. Sure enough, I absorbed the shock with my shoulders instead of sending the energy down into my feet to use to get away more quickly. Lesson learned, Christina, lesson learned. After fighting our hearts out, we headed to Debbie’s class where we continued our Michael Chekhov work.

Following lunch, we got to see the Ds presentations. One group of them performed The White Devil and the other group performed The Duchess of Malfi. Both were excellently done. I was so impressed by everyone and it was great to see some new friends perform such lovely work.

Tonight, GW’s first department show opens and many of my friends are in it. I am sending all of my love across the pond to them. It feels weird not to be there and I am sad to be missing what I’m sure is a brilliantly hilarious Ionesco piece. Looking at our timetables, it is hard to believe we are nearly half way through the term. There’s still so much to be learned and so much to see. I’m missing everyone back home but am excited for all the adventures ahead.

Until next time!

Cheers : )

How many people do you know who can say they have a bruise on their bum from clown? Not many, I’d venture to guess. Well I can.

Monday morning had us showing off our “special skills” in our clown class. A special skill for a clown is quite different from what us normal humans would consider a special skill. One girl had her clown’s socks become opera singing sock puppets. Someone else could read minds through a complex series of hand motions and sounds. My clown? My clown was skilled at juggling slips of paper. As I was directed through the exercise by Michael, I found myself hopping along on one foot while the other foot balanced a slip of paper I was juggling. Hopping along (in socks… my fatal flaw), I slipped and fell on the floor. Always the performer, I simply used it and tried to recover as quickly as I could. It was hilarious, embarrassing (but what is clown class for if not to laugh at our own missteps?), and now I have a lovely bruised bum.

Later that afternoon, we met our director for our new project. Tina is a marvelous woman. She’s about 5 feet tall and quite old but with all the energy and passion of someone four times her size and three times as young. With the mouth of a sailor, she says exactly what she’s thinking and feeling at all times. It is immediately apparent how talented she is, she is not one to shy away from a dirty joke, and is the perfect person to be working with for our Restoration comedy pieces. Due to her age and some occasional medical issues, she needs a lot of help carrying the piles of scripts necessary for rehearsal and generally needs assistance every so often. Because of this, she asked who would be interested in being her assistant director. Alessandra and I both volunteered and are having a great time helping her out. It means we get to hang out with her more and I couldn’t think of anything better. After introducing ourselves to her in a lengthy, thorough fashion, she explained what we will be working on. For our showing, we will perform 5 different scenes, a dance, and a song. The scenes are from various Restoration plays and affords each person the chance to shine. The plays we will be working from are The Rover, The Provoked Wife, The Plain Dealer, The Beaux Stratagem, and The Basset Table. Each is a hilariously entertaining piece and we’ve got our pick of some wonderful scenes.

On Tuesday, we had to give our character presentations in James’ class. That was a bit intimidating but it ended up being very interesting to listen to everyone’s presentation. The music I chose for my character (Queen Margaret) was The Firebird by Stravinski. Since this is technically a whole ballet worth of music, I brought in the last three movements. It is an incredible piece of music and I encourage you all to go listen to it. After text, we had pure voice with George (who is quickly turning in to one of my favorite tutors that we have) and improvisation with Adam. Both were great classes, as usual. This was our first time having Adam since the first week of class. We played a lot of games focused on the three concepts of accept, listen, commit. It was a fun way of practicing skills that are not only useful for improv but also for scene work as well. In George’s class we worked a lot with our breath and some exercises that are good for figuring out how to make your voice fill a given space.

As you can obviously tell, I’m loving the training that we receive at LAMDA but this week I realized a concrete reason why I love it so much. The tutors don’t just blindly lead you in exercises, expecting you to follow along and immediately gain something from it. Instead, they teach an exercise, give you the opportunity to discuss it as a class or with a partner, and then explain what it is useful for. If it isn’t useful to you (or if you didn’t really feel like you got anything from it) that’s ok! No one cares or is offended because chances are the next exercise will yield brilliant results for you but not for someone else. There is a sense of cohesion about the training – what you learn in voice with George can be applied in rehearsal with Tina and what you learn in physical theatre with Yorgos can be applied in text with James. Everyone is working towards a common goal which is to give you exercises and tools that you can draw on to make yourself a better actor. No one is trying to further an individual agenda or simply spew knowledge at you. I think this is a trait that many American theatre schools could learn from.

Wednesday had us in applied voice, historical dance, and physical theatre, followed by rehearsal. In historical dance, we learned yet another dance. This brings our tally up to having learned 7 dances already. The smile never leaves my face in that class. It’s wonderful to be learning choreography, moving, and wearing elegant skirts. In Yorgos’ physical theatre class we did some conditioning and then a really interesting partner exercise. The conditioning was a welcome addition to the day. I loved getting my blood pumping and working out. The partner exercise we did was really similar to some dance improvisation exercises I’ve done in the past. Basically we just had to listen to ourselves listening to our partner’s movement. Teresa and I paired up and the first time we went through the exercise it was a little weird, starting and stopping, going in and out. After we talked about it, we tried it again. We were focused, unafraid, and did not second guess ourselves the second time. That second time went very well and it was really cool to be moving so in sync with another person without having planned anything in advance. Just goes to show how much a little eye contact and connection can do to people…

Today, I began the day with singing where I performed my song for the class. I have never felt so confident singing in front of people nor have I ever sung a song so well. I guess I really missed my calling as an Elizabethan lute song singer.

Next came combat which was taught exclusively by Christina today. We continued work on our fight choreography and even added a bit on towards the end. I was sweating more than was probably appropriate but I was having such a great time. There’s something really empowering about being able to adeptly yield a rapier and dagger.

Rehearsal with Tina was a hoot, as it has been all week. We’ve been assigned our scenes and I am working on a Mistress Sullen scene from The Beaux Stratagem. It’s a great scene and the character is effortlessly witty. Tina keeps telling me to “think Maggie Smith.” As if I needed more reasons to watch YouTube clips of Maggie Smith all evening…

I am now home, working on some homework and relaxing. Tomorrow Emma arrives which I am quite excited about. We will spend the weekend being super tourists and exploring the city. And what better way to spend Valentine’s Day than getting dinner with Emma?

Until next time!

Cheers!