Shows & Trips

So my title is basically the summary of what I do in London(well I guess that & classes) but it's been out of control lately which is awesome!!!

Last Tuesday was crazy day since it was Election Day! In class we were all antsy & Marina sent us home early from Performance class. I then attended a production at the National that night called To Be Straight With You for my outside class. I found it very interesting(& I am writing my theatre review & my paper for my outside class about it..) Then I came back & joined in the election party that was going on. Basically I stayed up until 6am finding out all the results. It was actually lots of fun. There was food & games(which I won 4 of them...i am good at guessing how many ___ are in jars & I know my state captails! woo!). Though we were all exhausted, we stayed up & it was a super fun, exciting night!

Wednesday luckily I did not have my outside class & got to sleep in before Shakespeare. Then since it was Guy Fawkes Day(Remember, remember the fifth of November) we watched V for Vendetta which inspired me to then make eggy in a basket which was delicious!

Thursday I headed to the Tate Britain before Text & Performance class. I love how museums are free here! I love being able to go before classes! Then for Theatre Thursday we saw Faces in the Crowd at the Royal Court. I was not very impressed, though the theatre set up was very cool with us above the stage looking in on the apartment set.

Friday I went on the day trip to Brighton despite not being a part of the British Youth Culture class. Brighton is such a cute place(& the number 2 most gay city in the UK! woo!) We got a tour around the lanes with the British Youth Culture teacher & then we had free time where we wandered the lanes & then got our lunch of fish & chips on the pier with delicious fresh donuts for dessert. We then ventured onto the pebble beach where I thought it would be fun to walk around barefoot. It was actually painful. I then braved the water with Katie & Steph, despite it being freezing & screamed when it reached my feet due to the combination of the freezing water & the painful pebbles. It was quite amusing though. We then got a tour of Brighton with a lovely tour guide. It was just such a lovely place!

That night when we returned I went out with Katie to Cadogan Arms(our local pub) & then was persuaded to go out to a club. As always it was an adventurous experience but lots of fun. They actually played music we knew! Always a plus!

Saturday I was then exhausted & slept in a bit. I then traveled in the rain to the library to gather some research. That night a group of us went to see No Man's Land. It was my first time experiencing Harold Pinter & although I was very confused, it was so well done that I enjoyed it! Plus Michael Gambon(aka Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies) was AMAZING!!!

Sunday morning a group of us, led by our soon to be blue badge tour guide Katie, went to Notting Hill to have our own little tour of the movie Notting Hill. Katie led us all over & we took fun pictures, me often pretending I was Hugh Grant playing William Thatcher. This picture is me pretending to climb the fence of the private garden which they actually do in the movie.

That night I then went to try to get tickets to the UK premiere of Ordinary Days which is a new musical that premiered at Penn State. Though sold out, I did get a return ticket. It was in a really small theatre & the cast was basically singing in my face but they were so wonderful & I fell in love with the show all over. The writer was there & I talked to him telling him how i went to Penn State & he thought that was so great. I am so glad I got to see the show!!

Monday I took a day trip to Stonehenge & Bath through Anderson tours. Everyone else took this trip while I was in Germany so I journeyed alone. Unfortunately it was a terrible day & I got completely soaked while at Stonehenge, along with everything in my purse! It was cool to see the rocks though! hehe! Then wet & cold, we traveled to Bath which is a very lovely city. We took a tour on the bus & then went to the Roman Baths, which are really cool. We then had free time where I got some lunch & tea, trying to dry off & warm up a bit. I then wandered Bath a bit, stopping in the Museum of Fashion gift shop but unfortunately not having enough time to go into the museum. Though cold & wet, it had stopped raining at this point so it was very lovely to walk around. By the time i got home I was so tired & excited to get home to put on dry clothes, I unfortunately left my umbrella on the bus. Overall though it was still quite a nice day being able to see the sights!

Tuesday was back to classes. For performance we had a Laban workshop with one of Marina's friends. It is hard to understand but it's a movement based theory which was really interesting to learn about! I am learning some really cool things here!

Today I had my outside class & then left a bit early to head to the Globe for our Shakespeare class. There we got to see the exhibit & then had a very nice tour of the theatre itself. After visiting the fabulous gift shop, Raymond, our teacher, took us around the south bank area giving us a little tour. I love that area so that was nice. My favorite stop was the Southward Cathedral which has a monument for Shakespeare with stained glass of many of his characters. Very cool!

Tonight Katie & I went to go see Creditors, a Strindberg play which was directed by Alan Rickman. It was really enjoyable! We also had standing room tickets which was actually a great view & made me think of New York & the shows there I have stood for!

Tomorrow I have my last class for the week & then Friday I head to Paris!!! I am sure I will have lots to say when I get back!!!