Heya --
Well, I made it through my first block of Master's coursework! Yahoo! The course is structured in intensive units, so while we don't meet as a group often (1-3 weeks every 6 weeks or so), there is a great deal of independent work to be be completed in the interim. I am working on two small research projects, two small "lab-type" performance pieces, and doing research/feldwork for a large performance/dissertation. So, while I don't have to report to class ever day, I am still a busy busy bee!
I'm also however taking as much time as possible to enjoy living abroad. I have always wanted to travel. In high school, my AP Spanish class had the option of going to Valencia for a month in my senior year. Had I gone I wouldn't have been able to be in my senior musical (one of only 2 theatre experiences each year in which we had the opportunity to participate). So opted out. I wanted to study abroad in England in college during my junior year, but plans fell through when I both a) chickened out and b) was told that it might be put me a semester behind in school. So I opted out. Again. After college, I got entrenched in jobs and everyday life, and never had the money to go on a vacation, much less travel to Europe etc. And I regret that intensely. I was pretty sure I was never going to get see foreign soil (minus Canada), at least not in any substantial way.
And now, here we are. I have his gift of a year away from everyday life to both do exactly what I love everyday (theatre) AND get to explore as much as I want (as long as the money holds out!) I'm trying to not have to get a job while I'm here, so I can make the ost of 365 or so days. It means living on a very, very tight budget, but it is so worth it. The adventure of it all is such a thrill, and makes me so grateful for the people who supported my decision and helped to finally get here. At the end of it all, I'll have a Master's Degree, a very very full scrapbook, a head full of weird and wonderful memories, and a feeling that I've finally taken advantage of my wanderlust. And that is priceless.
In the vein of wanderlust, I've booked my first trip out of London... I am heading to Ireland for a few days on November 9, and am really excited! I got a great bargain on the filght and hostel and am pretty psyched to head off to Dublin etc. for a little while. I have no plans while I'm there yet, but am doing some guidebook/google searching over the next few days to make some plans. I expect to take tons of pictures and drink several pints of fresh Guinness. :)
Otherwise, things are moving right along here. I've ben seeing a fair bit of theatre this week, including the ENO's English-language production of La Boheme at the London Coliseum, and an intimate production of Tennessee William's less-often-done The Two Character Play at th Jermyn Street Theatre. The opera was glorious, set in 1930s Paris and featuring Soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn making her ENO debut in the role of Mimi. I had never seen La Boheme forever, but fell in love with the music several years ago. It really is some of the most powerfully romantic music ever written, in my opinion. Interestingly though, I found that I didn't like opera as much in English! I think because the staging and acting is so stylized and elevated, it never bothers me that I can't understand the words. There's so much pantomime implicit in opera blocking, and that, coupled with the repetitive phrasing of the text gives you an ide aof what is going on, without needing to understand every word. It's the nuance of it, not the literal translation. In English however, you do understand every word, and the naturalism of that seems a bit out of character with the very stage-ey opera acting. But, all in all, still a lovely experience!
Last night, I took a jaunt to Picadilly Circus to take in a little Williams. And boy did that man have issues. Parent issues, drug issues, sex issues, and, as illuminated in The Two Character Play, sister issues. Consider by Williams to be "[his] most beautiful play since Streetcar, the very heart of my life," the play explores his complicated relationship with his sister Rose, who spent the bulk of her adult life in a mental institution. Not light stuff, and the Jermyn Street production faultered a little in navigating this convoluted play. I get the sense that the play was written, like The Glass Menagerie o function as a kind of dream play, linked more to memory than actual timelines etc. of events. The story is not linear, and is bound in a play-within-a-play that the characters are performing. It's confusing and can come across a but hysterical in places, which creates a very tense theatrical environment. In the last 20 minutes, the characters pass a revolver from one to the other, heightening the drama, specially for those of us watching the performance in a 50 seat theatre in which a gunshot would be deafening!
Interestingly, I noticed throughout the piece how odd it must be for British people to watch plays done by American actors using British accents. The woman playing Clare (Catherine Cusack) had a nice grasp on her wilting Southern belle accent, but Felice (Paul McEwan) fell in and out of his Southern. It's not an easy thing to do, particularly in a play like this with high emotion and fast pacing, and it was just opening night, but I had a hard time buying into the 'realism' of his broken Southern dialect. Must be how Brits feel when us American thespians turn 'em all into Cockneys!
So that's that... another fast-paced, school-attending, theatre-going week in the life of That Girl!
Love,
TGI
PS -- If you want to see photos of my travels (including my latest trips to Bath and the Victoria and Albert Museum) check out www.photobucket.com/thatgirlinternational and look at albums on the left-hand side!
No comments:
Post a Comment