Catching Up: May 19, 2011 Hampstead Heath and Moonlight

Hampstead is the cutest!

Today, Matt, Olivia, Nathan, Andy and I went to Hampstead Heath! Oh. My. God. It is the most beautiful place EVER! Incredibly green and wild with meadows and beautiful vistas overlooking London. Hampstead Heath is the highest place in London so the views were amazing.

Vail of Heath.

Vail of Heath.

Parliament Hill even before the view is beautiful!
Photo by Andy

When we got to the top of Parliament Hill, after we ooed and awed, we set up a little picnic and were so adorable. Andy and I had a scrumptious baguette with deli salami (the serious stuff) and extra mature english cheddar. Hampstead, the town itself, is the cutest damn town! Different colored doors and such.

One view from the top!

Also stolen from Matthew's wall is a picture of myself and Matthew, the man himself, on top of Parliament Hill.

When we were finished there, we went...well, Andy and Matt and I went to the Donmar Warehouse to try to get tickets for Harold Pinter's Moonlight. The actor who plays Mr. Filch in the Harry Potter series was in it and he was amazing! The whole show, in fact, was amazing and bizarre, calming but death obsessed, funny and poignant. I really enjoyed it, but when the show was over....I couldn't really tell you anything about it. I was, and I still am, confused about the plot line and structure of the play...but, I still loved the place the show put me in: peaceful. Very calm. And we were standing the duration of the show! The cast, as an ensemble, was close to perfect and they were so confident in what they were doing that I forgot how weird Pinter can be and just enjoyed it for what it was.

Oh! So great!

Catching Up: May 18, 2011 And I And Silence

Rainiest day in London so far. It was warm, though. The rain went right through my slicker to my skin!

A group of us tried to get into A Delicate Balance with Imelda Staunton. After being turned away and researching it later, I fount out that it is sold out FOR THE ENTIRE RUN. So...Matt and Andy and I were ditched for School For Scandal, which we had already seen. 

We quickly made the decision to trek over to the Finborough Theatre to see And I And Silence, a new play by Naomi Wallace.

I really learned a lot watching this show. There were two versions of the Janie and Dee characters: young and older. The actresses, also younger and older, showed me how the age and maturity of an actor, or just time for the training to kick in, is what makes great performances. The training kicks in with time and aging.

The older Jamie and Dee were beautiful to watch. They had engaging simplicity and the strength/confidence to own what they were doing.

The gorgeous older Jamie and Dee. 

The play itself was okay writing, but it needed a rewrite or two. The ending seemed a little overwrought...was joint hari-kari really necessary? Well...kind of...it would've been impossible for them to live happily together as a multi-racial lesbian couple in the 1940s. Being ex-cons also wouldn't have helped them. Perhaps death was the only way for them...hm...

Catching Up: May 17, 2011 Yuck

In class today we discussed Shakespeare and the structure of his plays. Did you know...Shakespeare coined 2,035 new words in his career! Damn, son.

After class, a few of us wanted to go see Uncle Vanya at the Arcola Theatre, a show that I've been excited about for a very long time, but then a lot of people tagged along...this is a long sentence and I'm lost in my commas. I'll make it simple:

Arcola is far away.
Arcola is in a sketchy neighborhood.
Pay what you can night at the Arcola is busy.
Our group was late, for a variety of reasons.
A couple of us made the trek and then didn't get it.

Pissed me the hell off.


Andy and I can try to get in next Tuesday and it'll be fine.

But...this day mostly sucked.

Catching Up: May 16, 2011 Natural History Museum and Much Ado About Nothing

I don't have any clue what I did during the day...oh...wait...I slept in until twelve-thirty because my floor was getting tickets from Much Ado About Nothing...so no one could wake me. Except the most intense fire alarm I've ever heard. I'm glad the place wasn't actually burning because I chose sleep over escaping.

So, once I woke up, Andy and I decided to walk to the Natural History Museum to hang out until we had to leave for the show.

It was pretty cool, but...I way prefer art museums. We got through the majority of it and I had no need or desire to go back. I didn't hate it by any means, I just...was sort of...uninterested.

After the museum we headed over to Gloucestor Station to start the trek to Much Ado About Nothing...with David Tennant...and Catherine Tate.

During the show, I was laughing pretty hard, but...I had a lot of problems with it. First of all, it was set in the 1980s for an inexplicable reason. It seemed like a totally frivolous choice, to me, that didn't add anything to the production except FLUFF.

David Tennant was, however, great! He totally made Benedick his own. I've never known Benedick to be so funny! His bits were creative and honest and hilarious. He also had moments of cuteness, but...besides the cute and the silly confidence, his Benedick didn't have much more than that. I think that was direction, however.

Catherine Tate had her funny moments, but I did not like her as Beatrice. She was very hard to hear and understand, at least from row O, which is not that far back. She also had very low energy that didn't settle with my expectations for Beatrice.

Overall, I was amused during the performance...on a purely superficial level, with some serious props thrown toward Mr. Tennant and the guys who played Don Pedro and Dogberry.

Catching Up: May 15, 2011 The Tower of Disneyland...I mean, London

We went to the Tower of London today! I was so excited to go back to my fifth grader self's favorite part of the Melton family trip to England. But...I was so disappointed with what the Tower has become: a slightly morbid Disneyland.


It really has become this.

On the Tower Green, where all the important prisoners got their heads lopped off, there's now a stupid and tacky commemorative sculpture instead of a chopping block.

In the Bloody Tower, where the two young princes were murdered, there is a whole "who dunnit" exhibit between Richard III and Henry VI!

The only tower that seemed to have the tiniest speck of its original feel was Beauchamp Tower, the tower with all the famous carved graffiti.

We spent...I spent the whole day there speeding around and searching for some genuine intuitive history, I guess the feel history, and left unsatisfied.

The Tower Green
Photo by Andy

However, the church service we went to at the Chapel Royal in the Tower of London was quite nice. The most amazing choir...wow!

Relaxed tonight...I think...I don't remember.

May 14, 2011 The Cherry Orchard

View of Sommerset House from the National.
Photo by Andy

The National!
Photo by Andy

Today, everyone went to Portobello Road bright and early, but Andy and I stayed in to sleep. Little Andy hasn't been feeling well and I am completely worn out from the week. So, he and I spent the day like a lazy day in Salt Lake: food, Community, and more food.

He started to feel better when we went out walking so we decided to go see The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre starring Zoe Wanamaker (her father, Sam Wanamaker, was responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe; she was Madame Hooch in the Harry Potter series).


OH. MY. GOD. What an amazing pick-me-up from the...ugh...the Stock Da'wa. What an amazing production in general. It is my second favorite live performance ever! Well, for now anyway. I still have a month left in London.

It is truly a miracle I loved it so much because I had the worst seat in the house: right in front of a telephone pole (the ONLY telephone pole on stage)...front row. But, the Chekhovian nature and sense of the play, the Uta Hagen work the actors did, and just the wise and captivating presences of the older actors made me forget it. I saw and experienced the beauty of aging--->wise and felt excited, knowing that I have so much more to learn!

May 13, 2011 Hamlet at the Globe and The Stock Da'wa

Today was a very long and eventful day so...I'm having a hard time remembering where to begin.

It started off in Middle Temple, London for our Shakespeare walking tour with Tim and Jane. Outside Middle Temple Hall, we learned that the Temple area was the original beginnings of London and now it's an exclusive law practicing area. We learned that the term "bar exam" originated in England and why it is called the bar exam. In my journal, I wrote, "I forget the specifics now, but I have to tell Dad when I remember."

Middle Temple Church

Middle Temple Hall
Photo by Andy

Andy and I on our way to the Globe in front of St. Paul's.

The south bank view of London

We visited what used to be the Blackfriars Theatre, the original foundation sites of both the Rose and the Globe, and George's Inn (another interesting venue for theatre way back then).

After the tour was over, we headed over to the Borough Market and Tim bought us the most amazing brownies (I couldn't finish mine in one sitting!). Which reminds me, I have half that I still hope to finish! Andy and I abstained from buying Borough food for our li'l packed lunches. Matt did the same and we ate in front of the Southwark Cathedral with the London masses on their lunch break as well.

Chase got the yummiest chicken curry from the market and Nathan had some delicious fish n' chips. I still haven't had authentic English fish n' chips! Or a meat pie...rickaracka...

When our picnic was forced to end by Andy's and my schedule, we ran to the Globe to get tickets to see Hamlet. ALL SOLD OUT?!?! WHAT? NOOO!!! Hamlet HAS to be the first play I see at the Globe!!!

We hopped in the return ticket queue to see if we could get in...it was not looking good, the play barely began and WAM! Five pound tickets to stand as a groundling!

Standing for two and a half hours sucked! But, anything to see Hamlet at the Globe.

The production of Hamlet itself was very interesting. The cast was pretty small...under ten people...and all the characters, but Hamlet, were double cast. That made the play within a play staging very exciting and innovative. The man who played Claudius was amazing! He also played the ghost of Hamlet's father and the player king and played the mandolin! The man who played Polonius was amazing too! Maybe my favorite Polonius of all the Hamlet productions I've seen. He controlled the audience completely with his comedic timing. He was also the best gravedigger I've ever scene...HA! ...worldplay.

But, Hamlet, Ophelia and Gertrude were all weak. The scenes between them made me long for the Dan Donohue production. Hamlet's face was sooo distracting, unbelievable and muggy. Ophelia's madness scene was a complete joke. Gertrude didn't even seem like a queen to begin with!

But, all these things were worth being able to see my favorite play as my first show in the Globe.

After Hamlet was over, Andy and I headed over to the Hampstead Theatre to see a new play called The Stock Da'wa. It was in the small space below the Hampstead main stage, where Silence is playing, called the Michael Frayn Space.

I was, at first, very excited about this show because it was new and in an intimate setting...but then the show began and it all went to hell.

The Stock Da'wa poster: incredibly misleading.

This was, by far, the most awful professional show I've ever seen. The worst. A first grader could have written better dialogue than David Eldridge. He wrote what seemed to be "a slice of life" play. HA! Ha. Ha. Ha. While writing the play, he perhaps pondered to himself, "But...hmmm...maybe people will find my play boring...so...I'll make this white guy a converted muslim...I'll chuck in some suggestions of child molestation...a pinch of obesity, homophobia, murder, economic problems, sex (T.M.I.), gratuitous cursing...uh...have I missed anything? Oh! And a head in a duffel bag. Done. Play."

Nothing. Was. Resolved. Nothing. Mattered. The complete opposite of Clybourne Park, of course, but was trying to achieve similar things...I think.

Because of all these things, the acting sucked. Or, these poor actors were directed by a very heavy hand, Ugh. It's making me not want to venture to see new plays. But, as Chase said, "You have to get ripped off at lease once in London."

I did learn from it. I learned that the Cafe Caesar near the Hampstead has yummy and cheap Tuna sandwiches.

May 10, 2011 Date Day

Hamlet at The Globe

Today was a very relaxing day. It started with class at ten: Shakespeare's life and the evolution of contemporary drama. I must start going to bed earlier because I keep falling asleep in life.

After class, some people went to see Hamlet at the Globe, but Andy and I stayed behind to spend a special day together.



We walked up and down Kensington Street looking for cheap watches. Andy and I found some perfectly boring ones at Claire's for eight pounds twenty-five. Steal!

The we went to Sandwich World on Gloucester to get food for a picnic. I got Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Andy got a roast chicken sandwich. Yummm. Seriously cheap and delicious.

So, we took our food to Kensington Gardens and searched for the perfect tree to sit under. We found a nice little tree that over looked the lake to set up our picnic.

Once we finished our food, we went for a walk around the lake. As we were walking, I noticed a tall spire, without a cross, poking through the treetops. Andy and I ventured to find out what it was and we were surprised to find that it was half of a 17th century church and half 1980's flats built in and on to the side of the church. We asked a taxi driver about it and he said that a lot of old churches in London have done this.

When we returned to the flat, Andy and one of my roommates, Claire, and I tried for an hour to find a play to attend. But, the locations and various prices hindered us so we went with a huge group to Soho instead.

Eventually, and luckily, the group branched off into smaller groups. My group included Claire, Ally, Keira, Andy and I and we all decided to go to Brewmaster's for some pub grub and some drinks. I started off with a cider with black, Andy helped, and then the bartender suggested a Snake Bite with black. So delicious. Yum. Snake Bites are half cider, half ale, and currant flavoring.

I am going to sleep very well tonight.

Hampton Court tomorrow!!!

May 12, 2011 Silence

In Shakespeare class, we discussed Much Ado About Nothing. I'm not a huge fan of that play, but I've also never seen it. So, I'll have to give David Tennant and Catherine Tate a chance HA HA HA. I know it will be incredible, no doubt.


In contemporary drama class, we had a huge discussion on the use of profanity in plays and censorship in general. I'm still not totally sure of my point of view based on the article we read. When I have a chance to catch my breath, which could take a while...

After class, a few of us went to Sainsbury's to get groceries. Milk, apples, carrots, cornish pasties, chips, salsa, pasta sauce, bread, detergent, mayo, mustard, salami, and jaffa cakes all for twenty-one pounds.

Tonight, we saw one of our required plays called Silence by Filter productions. I can barely express anything about this play adequately in words. Not the plot, not the set...my words could not do it justice. But, this show awestruck me the ENTIRE TIME. I felt this awe way down in my gut, in my core. 


Silence was put on at the Hampstead Theatre, which is right across the street from the Central School for Speech and Acting that I'm so interested in, in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is a devised play, meaning that the final script came together from collaborating and improvising. This company, Filter, is a group that really focuses on sound and the human experience. That is one of the main reasons why this touched me so deeply, I believe. Music and sounds are great comforts in my life and the accusation of this on stage was beautiful.

We saw the actual world premiere!

May 11, 2011 Hampton Court Palace and The School for Scandal

Oh. My. Hampton Court!!! What an amazing experience there today. I don't even know where to begin!

How about the beginning...?

Base Court

God, I'm cheesy.

We started out in the medieval Great Hall of Henry VIII and Prof. Tim pulled a few of us aside and told us about how the halls were used not only to eat in, but to watch plays in as well. And that Shakespeare put on many plays for the royalty at Hampton Court! Amazing...

The Tudor Kitchens

So, we walked through the hallway that Kathryn Howard still supposedly haunts and saw the awesomely humongous Tudor kitchens. It was a big ordeal and process preparing meals for the whole court. Like, a multiple room, multiple assembly line process.

So many chimneys

Little known fact: to the Tudors at Hampton Court, meat pies were just a different way to prepare meat, nothing more than that. Just a little variation. I must have a meat pie before I leave.

Though we packed a lunch, Andy and I decided to split a Cornish Pasty. Yum yum yummity yum.

After our lunch, we went to the Chapel Royal. Wow. I was brought to tears by the incredible beauty of the place. I felt so...connected, so  a part of a something bigger than my little world. I looked up toward the ceiling, toward the heavens, and realized I was looking at the same ornate ceiling that Henry VIII and Mary I and Elizabeth I looked to so many years ago. The energy of all their past hopes, dreams, and fears surged within me and...it was overwhelming...and enlightening.

I lit a candle in the Chapel Royal for my family and all the people in my life that I love.

Palimpsest at its best: Edwardian attached to Medieval

Andy is becoming quite the little photographer: I believe this is William of Orange's bed chamber

The view from King William's bed chamber. Photo credits: Andy

River along the gardens

The Medieval fades into the Edwardian

Gorgeous tree we found in a secret garden in the wild gardens.

A rose garden out of the blue! 

Andy in front of Hampton Court after a long and very well spent day there.

After we were exhausted from a day at Hampton Court, Matt and Andy and I broke off to go see School for Scandal, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, at the Barbican Theatre. It was awesome. But, I must say, there was a fashion preshow with all the characters and really loud music and I got nervous. But, it was a great and incredibly innovated production of a restoration comedy. 

If I could write an equation to best explain this production, it would be:

Brechtian staging (could see in the wings and, occasionally, the actors changing) + Restoration costuming + modern props and phrasing = THE BARBICAN'S SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL!

It was a little slows in some places, but we saw it the second preview night. Nothing a little time can't fix. Also, Harry Melling was in it! What?! He played Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potters. He played the fop in this and was amazing!

Well, that's all I've got for today. Sorry about being behind...it's been a busy week.

May 9, 2011 Kew Gardens and I Am the Wind

Today we went to Kew Gardens and it was beautiful beyond words. Beyond Filoli even, so that you know I am serious. Kew Gardens has the world's biggest glass houses...heaven! There was a tropical house (Palm House), a desert house (Princess of Wales Conservatory), the Water Lily House, and the Temperate House (the biggest glass house)!

The Palm House

The Palm House

Wisteria!

Kew Gardens in a gigantic park and I decided that it would be a good idea to break in new Keds without  socks! Owww! But, it barely mattered because I was in flora and fauna heaven.

There was a huge and blooming wisteria vine and it smelled like my childhood in Pleasant Hill. It was one of the highlights of the gardens for me.

Before we went into the gardens, Olivia and Matt and Andy and I went to Kew Greenhouse for their famous scones. Yummmm...those scones put Elizabeth's in SLC to shame. But, I regret not trying the Kew Greenhouse's shepherd's pie and pasties...

I Am the Wind

When we got back from the gardens, Olivia and Matt and Chase and Katie and Nathan and Ward and Stuart and I all went to see a new play at the Young Vic called I Am the Wind. 'Twas good...not great. No. 'Twas mediocre...not great. It was...french avant-garde...absurdist...nonsense. But, I loved the set. The Young Vic is a thrust stage and in the middle of the stage was a dip and then a huge puddle of water. When the play got going, a hydraulic platform lifted from under the water and acted as the boat. It was fascinating to watch, but the drips of the water lulled me to sleep more often than not.

Off to Soho, 'night!

May 18, 2011 Westminster and Piccadilly walking tour

I slept in until noon-fifteen today. Our walking tour, led by Tim Slover, was to begin at one o'clock and my other roommates planned to shower before me! I was ready in ten minutes with time to spare. Amazing...

Walking up the steps to ground level from the Westminster tube station, Tim had us promise to look only at our feet. Once we reached the top, Big Ben, in all its glory, filled our eyes with amazement. I love London.

After we reached our quota in pictures of Big Ben, the group walked over to Westminster Abbey for a lecture on English history. Key/most memorable points:

• English history can be summed up in one word, according to Tim: 

Westminster Abbey

Celts
Romans
Anglo-Saxons
V'ikings
Normans

• The architecture of Westminster Abbey is best described by the word "palimpsest" because it was being built during many different eras of architecture. 

In front of the Buckingham Palace

We walked through St. James'  Park, saw Buckingham Palace and then made our way to Piccadilly Street. We went to Fortnum & Mason's and I was in: 1) heaven, 2) way over my head. But, don't worry Dad, I'll get you your marmalade!

Then, after all this, we went to Sainsbury's for groceries. Andy and I spent fifty one pounds on a ton of food...and we are still working on making our dinners together possible, even though we live two floors apart.

Tomorrow we are going to Kew Gardens! I  can't wait. I love me some flora and fauna.

Toodle-loo.

Day 1

What a rough first day in London:

• A nice long flight, but forgot camera on the plane. Stress ensued.
• Andy, who experienced more motion sickness in the last 24 hours than ever before in his entire life, threw up after an acceptable cab ride. THE FIRST TIME IN 12 YEARS.
• Blisters from transporting our bags from the airport to ours flats.

But, after I did all I could for the camera and after...well, Andy felt nauseous for the rest of the night...but, we managed to have fun our first day in London.

Andy, our friend Matt and I searched around South Kensington for a cafe with reasonably priced coffee before heading back to the flats for our orientation. Giraffe Cafe had exactly what they needed.

Our orientation took us around the greater area of South Kensington to a computer lab and our classroom and then took us to Gloucestor Station to go see the Clybourne Park at the Wyndhams Theatre. It was awesome, but, unfortunately, I was so tired from the flight that I was fighting to stay awake. My body fell asleep and sometimes my eyes followed. But, I want to be in this play! It was the closing night and all the actors cried during curtain call. The house was at a standing ovation and clapped without stopping through three bows and exits.

I was interested to see how the british audiences would take Clybourne Park. They laughed often, even through parts that I thought were inappropriate. I think that was my American sensibility wouldn't call this show a comedy. It was funny, but I wouldn't call it a comedy...or maybe that's because it's still just a little too close to home.

Public eavesdropping during intermission:
"What is a chafing dish?"
"...quite cleverly written!"

After the play, a group of us, led by Jane, hurried off the South Kensington tube stop to stop by her second favorite gelato place in the city: Oddono's. It. Was. Amazing. Not many gelato places come close to comparing to Vivoli in Florence, but Oddono's raspberry gelato was to die for. I must go back as soon as possible.

After gelato, a smaller group broke off and went to the Queen's Arms pub. I got a Leffe Blonde for two pounds fifty. It was nasty. Tomorrow I am hopefully going to have an english cider with black.

Oh! I have to go! Andy and I are going for a walk in Kensington Gardens!

Tah-tah!