Theatre Is At The Heart Of It All

Hello everyone!

This week I have had a sudden influx of homework, so it has been difficult to write about anything interesting. So today I decided I would write about the plays I have seen.

The Royal Shakespeare Company,
where we saw Taming of the Shrew.

The first two plays I've seen are 'Pippin' and 'The 39 Steps,' which I have already written about. After those two, I have seen 'Matilda, the Musical,' 'First Light,' 'Mr. Darwin's Tree,' 'Taming of the Shrew,' and 'Noises Off.' And tomorrow I will be seeing 'Pitchfork Disney.' :D We'll see how that goes.

'First Light' and 'Mr. Darwin's Tree' were actually two plays in one night. The first was a story about a Chaplain at a boarding school who had lost someone. I think she was his wife and a teacher at the school. But there was this whole story about one of the young girls (who was supposed to be 14 and looked 25ish), who was also sad. There was a slight feeling of Lolita, but nothing ever happened. Then the headmaster got word of supposed shenanigans, and it just.... got confusing. I'm not explaining it right, but I just can't necessarily put it into words. My brain is just slightly melted from all my homework.

The poster or Taming of the Shrew. I'll
write more about it in the next post.

'Mr. Darwin's Tree' was actually an hour-long monologue about Darwin's life. It was interesting, but it left no lasting impression.

Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of the pub the two shows were in, but it was a nice little place with a simple enough stage area. It had a slight black-box feeling.

Now, 'Matilda, the Musical' was magnificent!! I loved it so much that I got the CD, which was totally worth it. I really do enjoy listening to the music. The story of the musical was based on the book by Rohl Dahl (or however you spell that). In the production, the kids were very good actors and performed really well, as did everyone else. I was laughing so hard at the Trunchibul! She/he was so funny (It was a woman played by a man). The music was really good, and the set was so cool, I can't even explain it!!! Gosh, I just can't put clear words down. But it was Brilliant. With a capital B.


I just cam from seeing the play 'Noises Off,' and I have a sore stomach from laughing so hard. It's basically about a play that goes horribly wrong. There's even a section that is done "back-stage." It was funny to see how ridiculous things can get, but also a little sad because things DO get that ridiculous sometimes. I especially cringed when the curtain ripped. BUT! It was a very good show, and I would see it again.

That's the place where I saw 'Noises Off.' It's called The Old Vic, and it was a really nice place. :)








Well, since there aren't a lot of pictures in this post, I'll put some pictures about where we take classes.



There are two pictures of the inside of my classroom, and then there's a picture of the building from the outside. It's a nice place, but the temperature can get kinda funky, like freezing in one room and then sweltering in the hallway.

Well, sleep is calling.

Tra la la!

Sophie & Greg

Teaser for the next post! We're at a castle....

Week of Exploration

Hello everyone!

So, after returning from Bath, we had classes again. I love my classes so much!

These are two of my teachers: Chrinstine Harris - British Crime Fiction, Michael Fosdal - British Life and Culture, and Izzy, holding Greg. I was blinded by the light... This was during a lunch we all had together. It was great fun.

I've got British Crime Fiction which is a study of crime fiction and it's development, mainly here in the UK. We've read Poe (I know, he's not British, but he made one of the first "detective" stories), and a few Sherlock Holmes so far. I have also been keeping up with the TV series Sherlock, and I love it!!!! I got to watch the most recent episode here in London! I was really excited about it. I still am.

Next, I've got British Life and Culture. In this class... we basically talk about anything and everything concerning Britain. And Mr. Fosdal's really cool.

Then, finally, I've got Fringe Theatre in London. It's really laid-back, and AWESOME! We go to see a show every week (plus the ones I've gone to see on my own). I'm really enjoying it. This last class, we met at a tube station, and then went walking around the cool historical theatre places, like the original Globe Theater.

 This is a part of the original London Bridge. I got to touch it. It was really smooth. I think it's starting to petrify. Is that a real word? Well, it sounds really, so it now is!







Then we also passed through the Borough Market, and the food there is DELICIOUS! I found a stall of Argentinian food, and the guy was super sweet. I got a chicken Empanada (it was so good). Then I found this map of the market, and I just had to take a picture!

Here is my Fringe Theatre teacher, Brian, showing us where the original Globe Theater was. And down there is a picture of what an artist though the area looked like.

 The bricks there to the right are original bricks of the Globe... It was sooooo cool!!! I got tingles up and down my spine.



And then the building down there is the current Globe Theater. It's not playing any shows until April, and we won't be here then. But we're going to try to go on a tour to see the inside. :D

Well, this is THE bridge in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince... I think. It's in one of the movies. But this time there were no Death Eaters ruining the bridge. It was a very dreary day, but that's ok! I had to cross it to get to the tube station to go back.

OH!!! Well, most of you have probably already heard, but I GOT A PART IN A PLAY!!! It's at the Imperial College and We're doing the play "Can't Pay? Won't Pay!" I've already read some of the scrips, and it's very funny! I'm playing the part of Antonia. :)

This last week, I spent a lot of time wandering around London for the fun of it. I got lost twice. It was awesome.

The plays I saw that week were 'Matilda the Musical' and 'First Light / Mr. Darwin's Tree.' The second was actually two plays that we saw the same night. They were for Fringe Theatre.

OH NO!!!! I just had about a whole page of stuff written about the three plays, when the page froze before I could save it. D: And I lost it all..... Well, I'll just have to try to write it all again.

..... In my next post. :)

Love,
Sophie & Greg

P.S. If you want to see more pictures, I've put all of them up on Facebook. ;)

Trip to Bath, Part 2

Hello everyone!

So, to continue my Bath adventure:

After Stonehenge (which was really cool!!!), we returned to Bath, and kind of wandered about in a tired stupor. That night we all stayed in our room and played Scribblish/Some game that you write a story by passing it around. It was great fun!

The next day, I went (with Greg) to the Roman Baths, which is what makes this place pretty famous. Bath is the only place in Britain that has a natural hot spring under the ground, so the Romans set up a huge bath house to enjoy the water to the fullest.

This Bath here was the main open air one, (I think). The top level that Greg and I are on in this picture is the actual ground level. The stoned that make up the bath and that go around the bath are mostly the original stones that the Romans put down. I felt really cool walking around.

 The baths were right next to the Abbey, so I took this lovely picture... With a bird. :)
 

This was the Goddess that the Romans worshiped at the baths.
She was the Goddess Minerva. This is the head of the statue
that was in the temple.

This was the overflow of the upper baths. It
looked so cool, I had to take a picture. It looks
like that small opening is hiding some creature.

            
There were more pools around and under ground.


That creeper there, the statue, he totally watched everyone bath... D:













Greg was ready to go swimming, but we're not allowed to go in... And I'd forgotten my swimsuit.

The whole place was really nice, and at the end, there was a place where you could taste the "healing waters of the earth."

I didn't. I had been warned by people that it was... well, gross.

After returning from the Baths, I checked out of the hostel, and met up with the others at a nice pastry place.

Greg was taking a nap.

From there we returned to the train station and went back to London.

That was our adventures in Bath! Look forward to an update of this past week!

Hugs,
Sophie & Greg

Trip to Bath, Part 1

Before this whole adventure unfolded, I went and saw the play 'The 39 Steps.' I really enjoyed it. It was rife with British humor and quick changes with only four actors playing over 15 different characters. I laughed a lot.

There we are, the girls of the Lawrence group.



So, my first weekend, coming up, we (the Lawrence students) decided to go to Bath for the weekend. It was really cool.

Here Greg and I are waiting after class to go to the Paddington train station. We just couldn't hold our excitement! I know mom, I look like an idiot, but I love it.


When we got to the station, we got there 45 minutes before our train left, so we went over to a pasty shop. The pasties were really good, but while we were eating them in the "terminal" of the train station, there was this one Lurker Pigeon that would NOT. GO. AWAY. I kinda loved him. :B

He was so funny. And really disheveled.

Then we got on the train and went off!


Once we got to Bath, we went to the hostel we were staying at, St. Christopher's Inn. It was actually nice for a hostel. We stayed in a room all together. That night we pretty much just wandered around looking at the places we could visit because everything closed around 6.

Paloma, look! It's Pylons!!!! I was so excited. I saw the toasters... I would have totally taken one to school.



These are just some pictures of places I saw while exploring.

We had dinner at a nice Thai place, (Not Jamie Oliver's, unfortunately).

After that I went back to the hostel because I wasn't feeling well, but I had a nice lie in (I'm already sounding so British) and got some good rest.

The next day was packed full of stuff to do. First thing in the morning, I went with Tara to the Bath Abbey to go on the Tower Tour. The abbey was beautiful, and the tower was VERY tall. Approximately 212 steps up a winding and tight staircase.

Out on the lower part of the roof with Tara.

All these pictures are from the top of the tower. There are more on my facebook, if you want to see them.

After the Abbey, Greg, Tara and I went to the Jane Austen Museum and had tea. It was very lovely, but unfortunately at that moment my camera was running out of battery and I wanted to save some power for the next main event: Stonehenge!

I thought it was really nice. All peaceful-like. The air was fresh, the sky was only a bit cloudy, and when the sun shone through, it was so... calm. I'm glad I went.

Stay tuned or Part 2!!

Hugs,

Sophie & Greg

Hello London!

Once upon a time there was a girl named Sophie and a paper bag named Greg. These two were about to embark on a fantastical adventure full of magic, music, theatre, food, new sights, new people, and more theatre. This adventure would take place in.... the United Kingdom of Great Britain!


I have never written a blog, but, well, all the cool kids are doing it.... So I decided I would too. To keep people informed on my activities while I am here in Britain. However, I am not very good at keeping a journal, diary, or even sequential pictures. So hopefully I will stick to this.


I've only been here one week, but so much has already happened... Where to start? The beginning!


I got her on January 4th, 2012, and I arrived at the Heathrow Airport.  I took the tube to my cousin's house near Abbey Road. It felt so cool arriving to this awesome place I've never been before and taking control of my trip. I felt so grown up (which is still a relatively new feeling)!

I stayed with my cousin, Jimena, and her husband, Ivo, for a day and a half, but I was half asleep for most of the time I was there. :\ Comes with the jet lag. Then I went to Orientation/Registration. I got my keys, saw where my classes were, got my ID, etc. All that cool *cough*boring*cough* stuff. I'm living in a flat/house in South Kensington with all the other Lawrence/London students. There's only 10 of us and an RLS (like an RLA), so it's a nice, posh, cozy place.


That's me at the tube station for where we live!


~~~~~ Fast forward!! ~~~~~

The picture to the right is me with my first cider in London! We're at the Queen's Arms pub. It was a really nice place.



Well, in that first week, I was mainly getting used to the fact that I was in London. I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, went on a bus tour and a walking tour, went to three different pubs (on different nights), and had one week of classes. 












Oh, and saw two plays. :)

The first show I saw was Pippin. I saw it at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theater, but unfortunately, there was no chocolate. But the play was amazing!! 


These pictures are really bad. The top one was the hallway that led to the stage, and it was set up like a college guy's room. One who was obsessed with movies, the internet, and computer games. Before the show, an actor was sitting at the computer (that blurry light in the left) and playing a game while the audience filed by to get to the stage. 




The next picture is the actual theatre, which I WISH I could have gotten a better picture of. The set was very plain, just grey walls, with a few indents, and then different levels. One thins that made me think of Lawrence was that there was a big, square pillar in the middle of the stage (Chekhov!!). They used it very nicely. They had ladders on either side of it and the actors would climb them while they were dancing to portray different levels. If you look closely at the mess of lights in the second picture, the pillar is outlined by the bright blue lights. And again, sorry for the bad quality.


The whole show was done like it was a computer game. If you know the story of Pippin (or even if you don't)... I'm not quite sure how to explain it... A "random" boy from the audience (called Pippin) is chosen to live out his life on the stage and see how it goes. In this version, he was chosen from the "internet" and was given the chance to play this life-like computer game. I loved it!!


The lighting was amazing. I could go on for a long time about that, but I won't. Actually, I really enjoyed everything about it. And I got the ticket for only £10!


The second show I saw was the 39 Steps, which is a comedy based on Alfred Hitchcock's movie by the same name. It was very funny, and rife with British humor. It was a laugh. But since I've exhausted my attention span on writing about Pippin, I won't put more about the show... for now.


Well, I think that's enough for one post. Hope you enjoyed it, and good job if you were able to get through it.


Cheers!
Sophie & Greg