I arrived in London on Saturday morning and got settled into my flat in Kensington. It's basically one of the nicest Burroughs in London (out of 32). We did a little tour of the area to get our bearings; and, of course, all went out to a pub in Piccadilly Circus for a pint or two. Strongbow is officially our drink of choice. It comes HIGHLY recommended if you can get your hands on it...
Sunday was a general orientation. Where classes are, course policies, basic laws during our stay, etc. Afterwards we went on a sightseeing tour and saw a ton of major landmarks. The tour guides here are awesome! Russell, our tour guide for the sightseeing tour and our trip to Oxford, knew everything. It's incredible...and can I get a "mmm girl!"
We started class on Monday. We are at the Globe Theatre in Southwark right on the Thames, and have classes mostly in the education center. The class is comprise of 10 other crazy cool cats: Sarah, Tim, David, Alan, Stephanie, Natalie M., Julian, Tyrone, Charlotte, and Natalie P. We pretty much clicked right away and know how to have a good time. We spend Monday through Thursday, from 2 to 6, working with the professionals who work at the Globe. For the final project, our group is doing the Beatrice and Benedick scenes from Much Ado About Nothing, and combining them together to tell the entire story of the play. It's complicated to explain, but I'll try to get a video of it. And Monday night we went to this insane club called Tiger Tiger. People in England dance COMPLETELY different than Americans at the club. Everyone was staring at us because apparently we dance like "people in the adverts."So it was a little bizarre at first, but we had a blast.
Tuesday was class again, and then Natalie, Alyssa, and I went for a late night stroll through Hyde Park at like midnight. It's absolutely gorgeous. And, unlike Central Park, it is completely safe at night.
After class on Wednesday, Natalie and I went to see WarHorse at the New London Theatre. Holy crap, what a way to start off the theatre madness. For those who haven't heard of it, WarHorse is about Albert and his horse Joey in England during World War I. The British Military uses Albert's horse in battle...and I don't want to spoil the rest. It was absolutely beautiful; there was not a dry eye in the room by the end. Each of the horses are puppets, manned by three people, and they look so life-like! Youtube clips of it if you can, but you must go see it.
Thursday our group was a bunch of groundlings (standing on the floor at the Globe) and saw As You Like It. I can't get over how amazing the theatre in London is. The audience was from all different walks of life, and we were all connected by a play over 400 years old. It was fascinating, and humbling at the same time.
We don't have class on Fridays, so Charlotte, Tim, Natalie and I went to the British Museum. That was bananas. The British Museum can be summarized as the museum of human history. The rosetta stone is in there, Cleopatra's mummy, the first human tool, pieces of the Parthenon in Greece, and I think you get the idea...Then we grabbed a pint at this pub called The Red Lion, across from the Houses of Parliment and Big Ben, and went on the London Eye. It was really awesome. It was raining so the pictures aren't that great, but the gang and I had a really fun time. That evening I went to Much Ado About Nothing in Leicester Square with David Tennant and Catherine Tate from Doctor Who. The setting was...interesting...but together they were phenomenal. And they were both so nice! I met them after the show and told them how I was studying Shakespeare abroad and they both started talking to me about it and wishing me luck.
Saturday was my birthday!!!! WOOT!!!! We took a day trip to Oxford, which is gorgeous. Oxford is comprised of 38 separate colleges, and we went to Christ College. If that sounds familiar, that is because all of the Great Hall scenes in the Harry Potter films were shot there. It is also where Alice in Wonderland came about. We had lunch at a pub called The Eagle and Child, where C.S. Lewis, Lewis Carroll, and J.R. Tolkien would hang out and come up with ideas for their stories. Pretty cool, huh? And Saturday night we went on the town to celebrate my birthday. It was a successful evening if I do say so myself. Our movement instructor, Glyn MacDonald, said to me "if you remember your birthday, you didn't have any fun." Haha :)
On Sunday morning, I rolled myself out of bed and went on my first train ride ever, to Crawley. It's a suburb of London, and is about an hour south of where I'm living. My good mate from elementary and middle school, Jack, lives down there. We lost touch after I moved to Colorado. But, after 8 years (ish) of not seeing each other, spent most of the day together. I got to see his lovely mum, Beverly, and kick ass sister, Lucy, as well. While I love London, it was so nice getting out of the city and seeing them again. Then Jack and I went to this arcade type place called the Hollywood Bowl for a couple of pints and some pool. I showed him how we play pool in the States. :)
Yesterday morning we went to this store called Primark which is kind of like Forever 21: super cute stuff, and all super cheap. But the best thing was, that we had class ON THE GLOBE STAGE. HOLY SHIT. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. The energy in there was unlike anything else. It felt like literally stepping into another world: the air was buzzing, anxious, and ready to host a play. Words don't do any justice. The crazy thing was, that after a few minutes I wasn't intimidated by it. It felt like the space was going to adapt to me and the energy I brought. I'm sure this sounds weird to anyone who hasn't been onstage before, but we know. Wow, I get chills just thinking about it. Haha and there were tour groups walking through taking pictures of us like we were the actors.
This morning we went to the Tate Modern, which is a modern art museum literally right next to the Globe. We only got to go to 3 exhibits because of time, but it was still pretty awesome. All of the museums here are free, so it's pretty easy to find stuff to do instead of sleeping in :). In class we worked on our scenes a little bit more and are starting to piece our show together. My scene partner is Tyrone, and he is the coolest. Our scene is going to be so much fun, and I'm so lucky to be working with such a talented guy! After that we went and saw The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. Its like the essential show in London to see, yeah? It was fantastic. We seriously got chills throughout the whole show. And of course, we stayed after to meet the cast and snap some pics. The guy who played the Phantom, John Owen-Jones, has been the Phantom for the most amount of shows on the West End, and is also the youngest Jean Valjean in Les Mis in history. So, you know, that was kind of cool too. :)
I know this is really vague, but we have done so much stuff already that it's kind of hard to keep track. I'll try and work on blogging skills, and will have more pictures to post from tomorrow. We have an early class tomorrow, starting with a backstage tour of Dr. Faustus at the Globe, a stage combat class, seeing Dr. Faustus, doing a walking tour of the Olympics for next year, and then of course, we are going out on the town! We'll be at Tiger Tiger or the Sport's Bar, so if you see us, run in the other direction.
Cheers,
Steffanie
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