London: Sunday and Monday

Sunday:
Erica woke me up (like she always does) at 8:45. We got ready and walked to class, which then promptly started at 9:30. Class was wonderful, and included in-depth conversations, opposing opinions, and interesting concepts about the three plays we'd seen so far: Twelfth Night, Billy Elliot, and 1984. We also discussed a little history about King Henry VIII and his wives, and his palace, as we would be going to see his castle Monday. Class ended at about 1, and at 2:15 we were to meet as a group at St. Paul's Cathedral. Our suite met and went to Acorn (the group responsible for our flats and maintenance) as our heat and hot water and been going out for the past three days. They were helpful, and although it was Sunday, said they would send a maintenance person out that night. At about 1:30, Erica, Eric, Courtney, and I were starving, and since we had made our way to the St. Paul's area, decided to grab a bite to eat at All Bar One. I got chicken skewers and fish and chips (a meal deal, of course), and although the food was delicious, the service was slow and the food didn't arrive until about 2:15. We called our professor to let her know we would be late, as we had already paid and couldn't leave. She was extremely understanding, and said we hadn't missed much of the Shakespeare walking tour the group was going on.
At 2:45, after everyone had scarfed down their dinners, we met Andrea at Paulie D's, and she led us literally around the corner to meet the group. From there, we walked across the Thames on a foot bridge, and wandered around, seeing the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, and historic buildings, such as the actual grounds of certain theatres and the church Shakespeare attended. After the tour, which was only about an hour, Erica, Eric, and I walked our way back (yes, over the Thames again) to our flat with plans to relax and get off our feet. I've been trying to utilize my time by uploading pictures and videos and keep up with my blog. For every performance, we are also required to answer critical questions and have discussions in pairs about the shows, and then write them up and turn them in (due in March). In total, we're going to 8 shows, so we'll have a total of 8 reactions. I have yet to start these, but I have notes, and my classmates and I are incessantly talking about and criticizing the shows we see, so this won't be too hard. In fact, other than Erica who wrote her "blog" tonight, I seem to be the only person doing my journal here on the trip as compared to waiting until I get home. I don't see how people are able to not write. Not only am I excited to share with my readers and family what I'm doing, but even when I post every couple days, it's hard for me to remember everything, harder to replicate and reproduce the emotions I felt during an activity, and above all, it takes a good amount of time. So I'm going to stick with my routine.
The walk home was long but we always do it, somehow. It is dreadfully cold here. In fact, the locals are saying this is the coldest it's been in thirty years. But I love what I'm seeing and doing, so I try to pretend it's spring and how everything would look and feel, and that makes everything nicer. But what I have learned is that the next time I travel abroad, which I plan on doing at least two more times, is to get in shape and start walking before we leave. My knees are killing me. I don't think it's from walking, but it could be. I'm more convinced that the cold is actually chilling my bones, but just like any other pain, it's cured with some ibuprofen and chocolate.
At the flat, I uploaded pictures and videos, and added captions to the pictures I had already uploaded. I don't know why, but uploading videos takes literally hours. How curious.
In the evening, we left and went to Sadler's Wells Dance House to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. Although we were in the nosebleed section, I was content. I could see the pit, which had two French horns, and you could see each individual dancer. The show was entertaining and comedic, but also beautiful and poignant. After the show, we came home, I uploaded and updated more info, and went to bed.
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Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
The playwright is updating a classic ballet with the use of comedy, traditional garb, modern scenery, and technology like cell phones. I thought Bourne did an absolutely fantastic job and this production was well-worth doing, and for the audience worth seeing. Although we were in the nosebleed section, I thought we had the best seats in the house. The performers projected their actions and dances big enough for each audience member to see, and we had a perfect view of the orchestra pit. The seats, however, were squished and hurt my legs, and the backs of the seats were straight up which made for an uncomfortable portion of time for sitting. Although the theatre was huge, the stage was big enough to accommodate the theatre, and the staging was spread out enough where the performers didn’t look like a cluster of ants. The show told a beautiful story with a traditional linear structure. I didn’t feel intellectually manipulated, but again, the story, music, and dance performances were so beautiful that I did feel emotionally manipulated. The play, though ending sadly, made me feel nice, like I was there to attend the ballet and actually enjoyed myself while I did. Honestly though, the music and the heat created by so many people made for a perfect place to nap, and during the first half I had trouble staying awake, but was continuously awoken by the sound of a satisfied audiences applause. The casting was mostly traditional, with the exception of the all-male cast of swans. This didn’t convolute the story, but if anything, enhanced it. With the male swans, the story had minor changes, but the overall storyline remained true to the original. The male swans and the protagonist contributed a homoerotic yet romantic feel to the ballet. I was really glad to get to see this version of the ballet, and I loved the choice of the male swans. Although I don’t think the spectacles in this performance were covering up flaws, I found it interesting that they were used to hide cast members and serve as entrances, such as the big bed the prince slept in. Spectacles such as the shadows of dancers (making their movements even larger), the gun which shot the prince’s girlfriend, and the lighting served to only enhance the effect of the intent of the play. I was impacted emotionally by the sound design (not only by hearing the orchestra play, but also by watching them), the lighting design (the brightness or darkness of the stage given the mood that was meant to be portrayed), the costume design (which helped give the play a modern and contemporary feel, with my favorite being the swans pants, makeup, and lack of shirts), the scenery (which helped to bring the audience directly into the environment of the performers), the puppet designer (like the dog, which helped gain a few laughs), and obviously, and most importantly, the choreography. After racking my brain, I couldn’t think of any kind of design of the show that I didn’t like. However, in the scene where the prince, his girlfriend, and his mother go to the theatre, I was distracted by the performance they were watching on stage, as I wasn’t sure if I should focus on the mini-performance or the performers in the actual play. The design did nothing less than support and enhance the intent of the play. The one thing that will stick with me most about this performance was how standoffish and unloving the mother was toward her son. He repeatedly tried to hug her and dance with, but she would have none of that. In fact, in the beginning, I wasn’t sure if she was his mother or a wife with which things weren’t going well.
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Monday:
Erica woke me up, again, at 8:30. We had to meet as a group at Waterloo Station at 10 am. It's not hard to get too, but as any business day is, Monday mornings at the Tube are busy. The journey is easy, with only one change of lines to navigate. We got to Waterloo with 4 minutes to spare, which didn't really matter since half the group was about 30 minutes late, but did matter because being early is being on time, for me and mine anyways.
Have I mentioned that I absolutely despise Waterloo? It's freezing. I mean, it's colder there than it is outside. There's no heat, no doors, and pigeons fly in and out and all about. But, we all grinned and bore it, and everyone finally arrived. We got on a train, and headed all the way out to the end of Zone 3 to go see King Henry VIII's castle. It was Andrea's birthday today, so Erica and I folded a piece of notebook paper into fourths and made her a birthday card, with illustrations of Big Ben and the London Eye on the inside. I'm pretty sure she loved it, and it definitely had to be the only homemade birthday card she got.
When we arrived, it seemed that we were in the middle of nowhere. We walked a short distance and saw the castle. It is beautiful, don't get me wrong, and there are about 1100 rooms. But after seeing old building after old building, they all start to look the same. But Andrea was really excited, and after she "geeked out" on us with her extensive knowledge about Henry and the castle, I was happy to be there just because she was so excited. We went in, and like every other old building, there was no heat. But one of our first stops was the kitchen, which held a blazing fire in a huge pit, which served as a wonderful way to warm our bottoms and hands. After meeting our tour guide, going upstairs and watching a brief skit with King Henry VIII, his soon to be wife Katherine, and her sister, we were free to explore on our own. Erica, Eric, and I decided we would go back to the fire and make a plan from there. After warming up, we walked around, taking pictures of the architecture, paintings, stained glass, and each other being kings and queens. After watching one more skit, we warmed up by the fire, and decided it was time to head home.
We're all exhausted. If we're not in class, we're walking around seeing as much as we can, or we're at a show, or we're looking for things to take home, or we're grocery shopping or finding a post office or exchanging currency. The ride home took an hour, and the trains were still as cold as outside. But after an hour, we got off, ran a few errands, and went back to the flat. Since it was Andrea's birthday, we had the afternoon and evening free.I planned on updating and uploading (like always) but then a group of us decided to go to Casa Blue, one of the top Hookah bars in London. Erica, Eric, Rachael, and I took the train a few stops east and got off. After walking what felt a little too far, we found it. I loved it here. With the exception of location, it's been my favorite atmosphere I've been in so far. There were leather couches and comfy chairs everywhere, and the lighting seemed to cast a red glow on everything. And they played Red Hot Chili Peppers the entire time. The group ordered a fishbowl of Bunny With A Gun (a drink composed of lime, strawberry rums, and absinthe). Surprisingly, after downing the drink in under half an hour. I felt nothing. Maybe it's from kicking my meds, or maybe it's from getting used to having a drink every night, but other than a slight woosiness upon standing, there was nada. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ever looking to lose my cool or get drunk, especially when we're in unfamiliar territory, but I was looking to see the green fairy. I mean, this drink has been banned in the US and in several countries in Europe, and I can't even see why. Disappointed.
After getting back to the flat, I continued my routine of updating and uploading, took a shower, and am now blogging. It's 3:15 am here, and I have class in the morning, so I have to wrap up.
However, War Horse is tomorrow night. I am most excited about it, and here I'll leave with lump in my throat. GOOD. I'm on a new kick of needing to have a cathartic experience every 2-3 days now.