Catching Up: May 31, 2011 In A Forest Dark and Deep

Tonight we attended another one of our required shows called In A Forest Dark and Deep, by one of my favorite playwrights Neil Labute. The show starred Matthew Fox (Lost) and Olivia Williams (Rushmore, The Sixth Sense).

When we got to the Vaudeville Theatre and started looking for our seats, Neil Labute was just walking around and hanging out in his flannel shirt and jeans! Neil G.D. Labute! Some pretty hardcore rock music was playing, which is not something I expected from the posters/fliers. But, I didn't mind.

However, I did mind when the play started and I was seriously underwhelmed by the acting! It was so predictable! It was predictable and quite repetitive.

I liked the script alright, but I thought it needed more editing.

The twists and turns that revealed Betty's truth were pretty intense, but the two of them bickering to get to those points was...well, it got old.

And they hashed out some issues while completely ignoring others! To me personally, their whole performances were just washes lacking specificity...they didn't allow the characters to change or grow much from where they started at the beginning. Maybe that's the writing. Or the directing. I didn't really care either way, but I wanted something more that I did not get. Mr. Labute has done much better, I think.

Some Notes From the Talkback with Neil Labute:

• He and the actors tweaked the script even when the show went into previews.
• There is a musicality of the silence in a play.
• About the incestuous suggestion between Bobby and Betty in the play: They are constantly misreading each other so, it's only natural that they would misread each other physically.
• You want the characters to grow and have somewhere to go, but sometimes they grow in reverse.
• "The job is to take these stories and find a way to make them fresh."
• When writing a play, you are trying to find the most important 90 minutes of these characters' lives.

Nathaniel: Where do you see theatre going in the future?

Mr. Labute: Space.

Catching Up: May 30, 2011 London Road

Tonight Andy, Cameron and I saw London Road at the National Theatre...in the same space that The Holy Rosenbergs was in a day prior, but completed reconstructed! I love the Cottesloe space.

It was perfect to see this show right after seeing Do We Look Like Refugees?! because they were both written by the same Alecky Blythe. But, what was so awesome about London Road was that the same style of Refugees...how am I going to phrase this...I do it simply, with bullets!

London Road =

• Series of interviews of the people who lived near the prostitute killings in Ipswitch, Suffolk, UK.
• Anna Deveare-Smith style.
• Verbatim Technique
• A MUSICAL!

Yeah, it was a musical. Unlike anything I've ever seen, really. The use of the Verbatim Technique is what makes it sooo cool! They sang all the "ums" and "you knows" and all the pauses and laughs. Example: I got nearly seventeen hangin' baskets in this back garden - believe it or not. Begonias an' petunias an' - erm - impatiens an' things

I also loved it because it was about these murders that really happened. Singing about a serial killer. Sounds like my kind of show.

I bought the script of London Road and The Holy Rosenbergs! So, mum and dad, read all that you need to make room for these, which I will force upon you,

I love theatre and I can't wait to become a working actress!

Catching Up: May 29, 2011 East End and Do We Look Like Refugees?!

I should be catching up on my actual journal right now, the journal supplies this blog with all its content, but...I should start my paper for class and it is much easier on the conscience to procrastinate on the computer.

Bougainvillea, courtesy of GoogleImages.

Today we went on a tour of the East End with Jane. We went to the most beautiful flower market, the Columbia Road Flower Market. I found the most beautiful flowers ever (since yesterday when I also found the most beautiful flowers ever, Campanula Persicifola)! They are called Bougainvillea! Ah...absolutely gorgeous...they are blue or purple or yellow or any pleasing color, really.

The only thing I did not care for at the market, was the huge crowd. Worse than Portobello Road on a Saturday.

Before we left Columbia Road to move on to Brick Lane, we stopped by the cutest little shop that my mum would adore! It is called J & B The Shop. It had so many cute vintage things that were recreated into cute new things. The shop, including all its merchandise, felt like a giant collage of new meets old. I would've bought mum something but, it was, if you can imagine, horrendously over priced.

Moving on.

Brick Lane was alright. It was basically just a street with garage sales on either side of you. But, further down, it had the most delicious smelling and mouth watering food. Including STEAMED PORK BUNS that I suppressed the urge to buy...for now.

After a tour of the Huguenot architecture of the area and of St. Paul's Cathedral Spitalfields, the group was set free in Spitalfields Market. Nathan, Olivia and I started out at Montezuma's Chocolate, which Prof. Tim swears is the best chocolate in the world. It was, as everything in this damn country and most other things in the market, very expensive.

I got a watch, however and thank God, for ten pounds. It's pretty cute, but I don't need it to be cute...I need it to tell time.

It was sort of sad going through the market knowing I could not even barely afford many things. There was a cute designer whose stuff I loved, but it was much too expensive, called:

Lulu London

I clearly had to love it!

When we got home, Andy was a bit grumpy because we returned later than we thought we would. Because of this, he was bored and hungry, since we keep our food in my flat and he doesn't have the key. But, we decided to go see a show called Do We Look Like Refugees?! 


It was a very interesting show and I loved it. It was written inspired by the Anna Deveare-Smith interview style, but took it to a whole new level. The actors never formally learned their lines, but they had the exact audio interview playing on earphones throughout rehearsals and during performances. Called The Verbatim Technique, the actors must copy every single nuance of the original interview.

The play itself was about the various viewpoints of the Russian occupation of and war with Georgia. Most of the play was spoken in Georgian and had subtitles projected onto the backdrop, along with various footage of the Georgian landscape, behind the action of the play.

With Georgians making up more than half the audience, getting the jokes before I could read them, you'd think a couple of white kids would feel a little out of the loop. WRONG. I was totally involved with every new character that any of the actors introduced and with anywhere the show took me!

Catching Up: May 28, 2011 Bath!!!

Beautiful bus ride to Bath.

Andy and I got up and out really early today to catch our bus to Bath!!! We were both so excited and so exhausted, but the drive out was too beautiful to sleep through. So, we fought it valiantly.

When we got to Bath, we walked through Bath Abbey and it was gorgeous. The fan vaulting was more beautiful in this cathedral than any other we've seen...so far. And there was a memorial for an American senator there! What?!

In front of Bath Abbey.

Fan vaulted ceilings!!!

After we finished gazing up at the glorious abbey ceilings, we decided to brave the queue for the Roman Baths. It didn't seem like too long of a wait because of the awesome street performers. They were a band with a man playing guitar and singing and a woman playing a percussion box. Waiting in line made me notice that the pigeons in Bath are psycho.  There were way too many scary situations where I thought the birds would land on my head.

The main bath with Bath Abbey in the background.
Photo by Andy

We got into the Baths and...they were just as amazing, if not more so, as when I was a kid. To make the experience even better, Andy was thrilled by the whole thing! He was fascinated! It was cool as a kid, but this time I was intrigued by the history behind it all. That the natural spring and the Roman foundations and remains survived over 2,000 years! The spring itself is amazing to me...just how it sprung up and then remained warm for thousands of years is incredible.

My favorite bath this time was the circle bath. It is the cold pool that people jumped into after a hot bath to close their pores. The pool was filled with shining and glimmering coins that, with the cool water, cast soothing shadows on the dark walls.

The Circle Bath.

After the baths, Andy and I opened our umbrellas and briskly walked over to Sally Lunn's to escape the rain and to enjoy the original Bath buns. To our dismay, the waiting line was down the hall and out the door. But, as I told Andy, Sally Lunn's is an essential Bath experience. So, we waited...not for too long, fortunately. We were seated on the cosy third floor by a window. I got the Jane Austen Cream Tea with Darjeeling...which meant I got a bun with a TON of homemade raspberry jam. Andy got the Sally Lunn Cream Tea with House Blend Tea...which meant a bun with strawberry jam. He liked it, but not more than scones. Understandable. We hung out there, talked and sipped our tea until the weather cleared up.

We trekked up to the fashion museum and...wow...that was much more interesting as a kid. The outfits were just a bit tacky this time around.

Luckily, we headed right over to the Royal Crescent afterwards through the beautiful park. We stopped by a little Georgian garden on the way with the most adorable flowers called Campanula Persicifula.

He loves climbing walls to see the beautiful gardens on the other side.

This makes me smile!

We continued walking the path to the Royal Crescent. Once we got close, I made Andy close his eyes while I led him to the middle of the huge lawn in front. He opened his eyes and a HUGE smile took over his face. He was completely surprised. The Royal Crescent was ten times more magnificent than my young memory allowed.

Bath in general was very different than I remembered.

After the Royal Crescent experience, I had to get over to the Jane Austen museum to take care of a very important tradition.

OHHH, MISTAH DAHCY!

By now, we were starting to feel how long of a day it had been, but we had a couple more things we had to see. On my map, I found a roundabout called Laura Place, so we had to go there so I could take a picture by it. We also went to see the Venetian inspired Pultney Bridge that crosses the calm Avon River.

Laura Place!

The Avon River
Photo by Andy

Pultney Bridge
Photo by Andy

Pultney Bridge
Photo by Andy

Then it was about time to head back to the station to catch our bus back to London.

This was such a comforting day because I thought of my incredible family all day long and how much they mean to me.

Catching Up: May 27, 2011 Oxford!

Train ride's are lovely!

The train ride over to Oxford was so beautiful! Green and...totally breath taking. I see the cheese and I know that the cheese is cheesy, but I mean it.

The town of Oxford is beautiful as well. I love how much history is jam packed within the medieval walls surrounding the city. In 1234 A.D., Merton College (Tolkien's college) was founded.

Matthew, Andy, Nathan, Hannah and I atop the Sheldonian theater tower.

All the honey colored Oxford buildings are made of Cotswold stone and Christopher Wren's first building ever was the school's Sheldonian Theatre, which was modeled after Roman amphitheaters.

Little known custom: Apparently, when Oxford students pass their exams, they drink champagne and throw glitter at each other in the streets.

The first "quad" was at Oxford! The quad at Oxford is not only the place where four buildings meet, in the traditional sense, but it is also where the original four most important schools meet: grammar, logic, rhetoric, and theology.

View from the Sheldonian theatre overlook.
Photo by Andy

Sighs Bridge from the overlook.
Photo by Andy

Little known fact: The first folios were dedicated to the Earl of Pembroke who also has a statue in the Oxford quad.

After the first part of the Tim tour was over, we all went over to Pieminister to get the best meat pies! Andy and I both got the award winning Chicken of Aragon pie. It has chicken, bacon, vegetables, tarragon, onions and garlic. You can't really lose if you've got all those ingredients on your side. I got my pie with mushy peas, mash and gravy. Yummm.

After lunch, Tim bought us the most delicious cookies in the world from Ben's Cookies. I got a fresh from the oven dark chocolate chip cookie. Holy Moses.

Then we headed over to Christchurch College, the largest of the Oxford colleges. Beautiful. Cardinal Wolsey, who designed and built Henry VIII's Hampton Court, also worked on Christchurch. On a slightly different note, it's amazing to me how a little ivy growing up a wall can make something look ten times more beautiful.

We wandered around outside the grounds, outside the medieval walls, and arrived at Iris River where Lewis Carol would write Alice in Wonderland.

After a brief lie down by the river, we meandered back to the little cobblestone streets that go through the colleges. Andy and I kissed under Sighs Bridge. We went to the Science Museum to see what Einstein wrote on a preserved blackboard. Eventually we wound up at The Eagle and the Child pub, where J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings! There, I had a Pimm's. Mom and Dad, you must let me know if Pimm's is sold in the states. Because if it's not, then I am going to brings some back. Best summer cocktail ever. Seriously.

Pictures to come. Andy and I just have to coordinate.

Catching Up: May 25, 2011 The British Museum

Walking to the British Museum through the Sicilian quarter.
Photo by Andy

In front of the British Museum.

Highlights of the British Museum with Tim

The Nereid Monument

Two Important Themes of the Museum:

1.  Most of the objects in the museum were taken or stolen
2. Historical humility

8 Most Important Objects in the British Museum according to Tim Slover:

The Lewis Chessmen

1. The Nereid Monument: tomb for King Arbynus. Aurae not nereids on the front of the monument. Combination of East meets West architecture. Persian meets Greek. PALIMPSEST.
2. Parthenon: The Greeks admired horses. Two things are depicted on the Elgin Marbles: panathenaic festival games and the hecatomb (the sacrifice of 100 bulls to Athena). The Battle of Lapith also depicted.
3. The Ram in the Thicket and The Standard of Ur: Ancient Sumaria. 2600 B.C. Made of Lapis Lazuli, gold and other precious gems/stones.
4. Ancient Egyptian Rooms: Oldest mummy dates back to 5000 B.C.
5. The Lewis Chessman: 1150 A.D. Came from Norway. Four sets total, but only one remaining.
6. Celtic Roman Tableware: 400 A.D. A true treasure of the British Museum.
7. Sutton Hoo Ship Burial: King Gradewall buried at sea in 625 B.C.
8. Easter Island Statue: 400 A.D. Easter Island settled by Polynesians. By 1000 A.D., the civilization was extinct. White guys who came to the island found hundreds of statues. Scientists think that all the trees were used up to roll the statues around to different places on the island. They were status symbols, it is thought.

Honorable Mention: The Waddesson Bequest Room...ten times better than the crown jewels, as far as I'm concerned, and no crowds to be seen.

Catching Up: May 24, 2011 Worst Hamlet Ever

After class, Andy and I went to Sainsbury's and got a ton of groceries. It was a long awaited grocery run. Then we relaxed until we had to leave for Hamlet at the Rose Kingston Theatre!

Before the show, I was so excited about seeing another Hamlet that I drew a diagram of the damn set! Buuut, it was so horrible that I did not want to waste my time redrawing it into my journal.

I will share with you some of the notes I wrote down during the show to pass the time/to distract myself from the butchering of my favorite play.

• Where was "A little more than kin..."?
• Ophelia is a nobody.
• Pacing...? too jerky with no sense of lingering ever. But, at the same time, cues are not being picked up fast enough!
• No matter their age, these actors are making immature choices.
• Where is your power Claudius? Hmmm?
• The bagpipes were pretty, I guess, but they don't exactly remind me of Denmark, for God's sake.
• No one is listening. Clearly they each only have a plan for their individual performance that has absolutely nothing to do with us or their fellow actors or the damn audience!
• Final scene = Cluster f***

Afterward, we had a Q&A with the director and some of the actors and it was a pathetic experience. The director was, more or less, a complete idiot who took every question as an attack on his crappy production that he must childishly defend to the utmost. All the actors were grumpy and looked like they didn't want to be there. And the actress who played Gertrude said that she never considered why or the thought that Gertrude knows all the specifics to Ophelia's death. WHAT. AHHH.

Unforgivable.

Catching Up: May 23, 2011 The Tate Modern

The Avenger

After Nathan, Olivia, Matt, Andy and I all got tickets for In Conversation with Henry Goodman (The Holy Rosenbergs) at the National, we went to the Tate Modern to try to put a dent in it. We barely conquered the fifth floor due to some fantastic exhibitions.

I wrote down some of my favorite pieces and/or artists to remember...

Linen

• Ernst Barlach...The Avenger 

         Note the cubism of the cloak versus the realism of the face.

• Robert Delaunay...Study for The City
• Diego Rivera...Still Life 1916
• Natalya Goncharova...Linen
• Gino Severini...Suburban Train Arriving in Paris
• Carlos Garaicoa...The Point, the Line, and the Plan

• 

  The Point, the Line and the Plan

  Bridget Riley...To a Summer's Day
• Shikanosuke Yagaki...especially Still Life 1930
• Ryukichi Shibuya...Untitled (Cigarettes, camera, coffee)
• Amedeo Modigliani...Portrait of a Girl
• John Latham...Film Star
• Do Ho Suh...Staircase

Staircase

That's all I've got for the Tate so far. 

In Conversation with Henry Goodman

• "You don't want to be limited by the things that shape you."
• There's an energy in the thinking that is shared with the audience.
• "Intelligence liberates instincts."
• The codes of English theatre is in what is not said --> Different self use between American roles and English roles.
• "Inside every actor is a peacock and a priest."
• It is so important for us to use the character's vocabulary of their situation and not the actor's or the audience's vocabulary.

Catching Up: May 22, 2011 As You Like It

Saw an AMAZING As You Like It at the Globe today! I wish it had been my first experience in the Globe instead of that mediocre Hamlet.

So, the show started with all the actors coming on stage from various places, playing instruments and singing. The man who played Orlando played accordion and the man who played Duke Frederich/Duke Senior/Audrey played ukulele! The music they played throughout was beautiful. Clarinet, xylophone, guitar and harmonica were some later and greater additions to their sound...making the show ten times more adorable.

I love the whole cast. The weakest link for me would've been Rosalind because she was a bit pushy. Pushing a bit too hard to get those laughs, which she did get. Also, she seemed too masculine as a woman to make that crossover from Rosalind to Ganymede specific enough. But, don't get me wrong, I still liked her. I didn't really know what to expect from a Rosalind because, even though it has been one of my dream roles for years, I've never seen it performed. So, I was very surprised by her choices. Her bold choices paired with Celia's made their relationship very specific, captivating and hysterical.

On that line, I thought that Celia and Rosalind had way more chemistry that Orlando and Rosalind! Just an observation. It was super distracting or anything, but I did notice it more than once.

I was, as an audience member, very much involved as a part of the show. That is what I loved the most. I  felt that the actors were not just having fun and playing with any audience, but that they had a special experience with our audience! That we, the May 22, 2011 As You Like It matinee at the Globe, experienced a performance that will never again be quite the same.

Catching Up: May 21, 2011 Lazy Day in Kensington Gardens

Lazy day! Oh, Lazy day!

Andy and I slept in, took our time getting ready and then headed over to explore more of Kensington Gardens to have a picnic.

It was a beautiful and warm day, so we walked until we found the perfect spot. On this quest for the perfect picnic spot, we stumbled across Serpentine Lake and decided to eat in the shade of cottonwood and willow trees. Our view overlooked the lake that was filled with little blue paddle boats and canoes. It looked like a Georges Seurat painting.

After lunch, we walked to the opposite side of the lake to sit in the sun. Andy took a nap and tanned whie I wrote postcards to Papa Joe and Livvy-Lou.

Cutest!

Soon the breeze picked up and the clouds rolled in...it started to get chilly. So we packed up and went back to the flat.

Catching Up: May 20, 2011 Westminster Abbey, The National Backstage Tour and The Holy Rosenbergs

We started the day at Westminster Abbey with Tim as our tour guide. This was one experience I did NOT appreciate as much as a fifth grader because...WOW. The abbey is so beautiful and ornate and dark and...PALIMPSEST IS THE COOLEST THING.

Big Ben and the London Eye
Photo by Andy

Cuties, Nathan and Claire, outside Westminster Abbey.

My favorite part of the abbey was Queen Elizabeth I's tomb vs. Mary Queen of Scots' tomb because Tim told us that Mary's tomb was built by her son when he became the king of England. Mary's tomb is taller than Elizabeth's and has a red tiger at her feet to protect her. These two things suggest the king's belief that his mother had the natural right to be the queen of England.

Photo by Andy

Notable graves and/or tombs:
- Aphra Behn
- Anne Bracegirdle (first professional actress)
- Mary Queen of Scots
- Queen Elizabeth I

Photo by Andy

On Westminster Bridge.

After the tour, Andy and had a picnic on the lawn in front of Westminster Abbey. Andy was so tired that he took a little nap in my lap. When he woke up, he and I walked across the Westminster Bridge and along the Thames to the National Theatre for our backstage(s) tour!!! On the way we watched some crazy street performers! One Charlie Chaplin impersonator, a few cool Africans limboing...you know, the usual.

Charlie Chaplin? Is that you?
Photo by Andy

The National backstage(s) tour was INCREDIBLE. I'm just going to copy my notes from the tour!

The Olivier where Zoe Wanamaker's Cherry Orchard is currently playing.

The Olivier

• Seats 1,160 people
• It was designed after the greek amphitheater Epidaurus. 
• At the point of command on stage, the place on stage where the actors/actresses can take in the whole audience without having to turn their head, the eyesight is 118 degrees. This stage was clearly made for an actor because women's peripheral goes to 123 degrees. Little known fact.
• Most of the time, all the music in the Olivier is live and the actors are rarely miked.

The Cottisloe

Cottisloe Theatre where The Holy Rosenbergs and London Road are playing.

• Seats 200-400 people depending on the set up.
• It's located underneath the Olivier and almost did not exist!
• Black box theatre, but also an example of an Elizabethan courtyard theatre.
• Has a hydraulic floor which allows the space to drastically change to fit the needs of certain productions.
• Adapts well to smells to transport audiences with their noses.
• The first ever production of Angels in America done here.

Lyttleton theatre where Rocket to the Moon and One Man, Two Guv'nors are playing.

The Lyttleton

• Seats 890 people.
• A proscenium arch theatre that almost didn't exist at the National because it is such a standard theatre design.
• It has a hydraulic stage which means it can be made into a raked stage as well.

I VOW THAT I WILL WORK AT THE NATIONAL AT SOME POINT IN MY LIFE. I will make it happen, whatever it takes.

After the tour, we had a light dinner at the National's cafe before seeing The Holy Rosenbergs in the Cottisloe theatre. The Brits sure know how to make a good tuna sandwich. 

This show was an amazing piece of contemporary drama with an incredible cast...starring Henry Goodman. I took notes before the show and at intermission and will copy 'em.

Before the show:

I love this theatre. It's like if the Young Vic, the U's Studio 115, and George's Inn all had a baby. And. Put. It. On. Crack. The set looks like a normal family's living room. 

Intermission:

Wow! I honestly feel like I'm a living, listening and breathing wall in the Rosenberg household. The scene between the mum, Leslie, and her daughter, Ruth, while there were setting the dining room table for guests reminded me of my mum and I! The relationship between them is so clear! Also, Mr. Rosenberg reminds me so much of Mr. Ricci! And that's a compliment!

Better buy the script soon!

And I did. This is Laura from the future. I bought the script and can't wait to force my father to read it. MUHAHAHA.