London: Tuesday

Today was the hardest day, by far, to wake up. Like I said, I've been trying to keep up with my blogs as we go, and after a packed day, it can be not only exhausting, but also time consuming. So I got up, got dressed, and we walked to school. We talked about swan lake and also the design aspects of theatre (costume, scenery, sound, choreography, etc). Class was done by 12, and we got to choose whether to got to the National Gallery or the National Portrait Gallery, where we would look around, and then pick a painting that we liked or was meaningful to us to share with the class at our next meeting time. Erica, Eric, and I went to the National Gallery, which is right beside the National Portrait Gallery, located in Trafalgar Square. I was able to take a couple pictures in the entrance at the National Gallery, only to then find out that pictures are not allowed. Oh, and what treasure did this museum have in store for us. In a span of two hours, I stood in the presence of 13 paintings by Monet, 4 pieces by Manet, 4 works by Renoir, 8 pieces by Cezanne, and other works by van Gogh (4), Pissarro (10), Rembrandt (3), Da Vinci (1), and tons of other 18th to early 20th century artists. You know, I've never really understood people who stand and stare at paintings. I mean, I get certain things, like getting closer to see brush strokes or details and colors, but standing there? I've just always thought it to be the wanna-be hipster cliche thing to do. But today, it happened to me. I turned a corner, and boom, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked up and I was standing in front of the most beautiful painting I have ever seen. It was "Child with a Dove", painted by Pablo Picasso in 1901. And when I say beautiful, I don't necessarily mean the most vivid or excellent imagery, and not even the best use of colors. But the imagery spoke to me. This painting literally called my name. I immediately wrote it down, and then looked back up. As I wrote, my heart raced. And when I looked up, I got a huge lump in my throat. I stared, and the lump grew. I didn't want to cry. It was the middle of the day, and I'm in a museum with my friends. So I walked away to keep seeing and writing down other pieces. But I found myself rushing around the room, just so I could get back to The One. And when I made it back, I couldn't contain it any more. I felt hot tears running down my face. I felt my cheeks flush, and I felt my eyes want to divert. And I couldn't help it. It was literally like I was a moth to a flame. And it was strange. The plaque beside it said ""This was painted in Paris at a transition point in Picasso's career. The background anticipates the predominant tonality of the images that mark his Blue Period. The dove and the child's plaything heighten the sense of fragile innocence." I bought the postcard so I could try and keep the memory forever, and even though it's the same image, it doesn't emit the same feeling. But when I think about it, and even writing about it, tears flood my eyes. Catharsis.
After the museum, we made our way to Drury Lane for a backstage tour of the Theatre Royal. The theatre is amazing, and has tons of history. I took videos of our tour guide, but at one point I got yelled at, so had to be a little more sneaky from there on out. What I found interesting about the place: it's super old, tons of royalty has been there, it's haunted, the stage can rock, shake, scissor, and rotate 360 degrees, and Lord of the Rings was put on as a play there. After about an hour, the tour was over, so Erica, Eric, and I made our way to grab some dinner.
Let me just say, I am so sick of eating out. We bought groceries, but we never have the chance to go home and eat. According to people who have been on this trip before, they had more free time in the day to go home in the middle of the day to eat lunch or dinner, but we don't. I'm not complaining about the schedule - I would like to see as much as I can, but being out is where all the money goes. And don't get me wrong, I'm really happy about all the things I've gotten to see, but I feel that a majority of our itinerary was filled with things our professor wanted to do, not necessarily things the group needed to see. But it is what it is, so we go regardless, and we manage to laugh and have fun, even if every castle looks the same as every other castle... ;)
For dinner, we found a small Italian restaurant. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I ordered homemade mushroom soup and iced tap water and we were given one piece of bread each. The soup was absolutely delicious, and quite filling. Turns out, we paid for the bread with the 80p cover charge we each were charged that showed up on the bill. Worth it.
We found our way back to Drury Lane to the New London Theatre, where we were going to see War Horse at 7 (not 7:30). I read on the way in that "you'll cry all the way back to your car" so I was a little nervous. After 1984 turned out to be a huge bust, my new "can't wait to see it" play was War Horse. We went it, found our seats (which were amazing), and sat down. The play began, and if you don't know, the horses are huge, real size mechanical puppets. From the first minute I was saying in my head, "Oh my God, if this show comes to New York, my mom HAS to come up and see it". It will floor you. It will amaze you. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. And it is beautiful. At the very beginning, there's a moment where the foal in running around, and in an instant he transforms into a grown horse, and it is nothing less than majestic. I found myself thinking "It's only the first half, am I allowed to start crying yet?" Turns out, you will cry, but not because it's sad. I mean, there are sad moments, but this play was just above anything I could imagine and just awesome. Absolutely amazing and awesome. YOU MUST GO. Take Billy Elliot and times it by 3. Go see it. I'm telling you - even if it never comes to New York, pay airfare and buy tickets. It's worth that much.
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War Horse
The playwright is looking at the connection between man and animal, and how strong that connection can be. This was captured wonderfully and almost in an expert-like and unbelievable way. This play will change the history of plays, and I can’t express how happy I am that it was done, so yes, this was definitely worth doing (and seeing)! First of all, we had wonderful seats on the side of the semi-circle stage and were only a few rows back. The performers took full advantage of all of the space of the stage, and even utilized room off the stage by using long poles to make puppet birds fly above the audiences head or coming into the audience to put up flags that stretched all the way back to the stage. When the performers sang, you could pick out individual voices and watch as they started and ended their words. Although the seats were on the side, and I couldn’t always see all of the sketches that were projected onto the screen in the background, this was by far the most intimate setting and the most connected I’ve felt at a performance. The play had a traditional linear structure. This play emotionally impacted me in a huge way. I had read on the way in “You’ll cry all the way back to your car”, and it was so true. During the first half, I found myself thinking “Wow, is it too early to start crying, or can I start now and just keep crying until the end?” This was achieved by the sheer beauty of the horses, and it was true: the puppet horses were even more real than actual horses. When you’re watching the foal gallop, and next thing you know, full-grown Joey comes out galloping, my heart filled with sheer happiness and I was so astounded by the beauty I was in tears. The play made me miss home and miss horses, and the story, as cliché as it may sound, was truly heart-warming. The story wasn’t completely happy and things weren’t always perfect, but everything seemed to genuine and like real life. All of the performances did extraordinary jobs. Of course, the main guy who takes care of Joey was amazing, but my favorites included the German soldier (who really transforms, just proving what the love and beauty of animals can do to someone), the mother (who sticks by her husband and supports him, even when he’s drunk and clearly wrong), and especially the puppeteers responsible for the mobility of the horses. There were no mediocre performers in this play. Not one was simply mediocre. The casting seemed to be traditional, with no one sticking out or looking out of place. The spectacles in the show were amazing, and definitely only added to the show, and were not there to cover flaws (if there even were any). Every kind of design you can think of was in this play, and each one was perfect to the max. As for costumes, even the puppeteers were in fitting costumes. Choreography – a man got shot, and they had five or six men help literally flip him in the air off the horse and then onto the ground AND the footing and movement of the actual puppeteers were flawless. I mean, there were two people crowded up under a life-size puppet running and not tripping over each other with another person on the outside helping direct the head of the horse. It was absolutely insane. The sound designer did a great job. I was so upset when I first when in because there was no orchestra pit, so I figured all the music (other than that performed on stage) was recorded. But at the end, during the bow, the instrumentalists came out and bowed, French horn, trumpet, and all. It had sounded as if it had been a recording playing, and the musicians had been backstage the entire time, and it still resonated around the whole theatre. Also, the actors were micro phoned, but it wasn’t too loud or too soft, and you could not see the microphones at all. The scenery was simplistic, making the most of out a little, not cluttering the stage (which you can’t do with huge puppets everywhere), and wasn’t overwhelming. Also, the scenery was unique with a huge screen in the background with sketches and illustrations being projected onto it to help change from outside to inside to in a war to wherever the characters were. And above all, the puppet designs were out of this world. Of course, the horses were just incredible and majestic, but even the puppets of soldiers, the goose, and the birds were absolutely unbelievable. Each type of design most definitely contributed positively to the play. Everything was so original; I have to say this is absolutely the best play I’ve ever seen in my life. The one thing that will definitely stick with me about this production was the first seen of the foal eating and trotting around and looking so life-like, and then of course the transition of him into a full-grown horse. I will never, ever forget this play, or how it made me feel.
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So after the show, I was completely exhausted, and Erica, Eric, and I walked home. I was glad to get home and get comfy. I don't feel sick, but my voice is almost completely gone, and I'm tired. I just feel different, kind of like, "ok, keep taking me to shows, but i'm over the whole touristy part of this trip." So I hung out with my flat-mates, had some munchies, talked to my boyfriend on iChat. And then I couldn't go to sleep. Great. So I made myself a Coke and peach vodka, and then had to problem being sleepy. I went to bed, and (it's Wednesday) woke up at 5 PM. Just the sleeping in I needed :) AND I didn't spend any money today. So now I'm updating and uploading and starting my theatre reviews.
We have about four and a half days left, and although I'm ready to start heading home, I am absolutely dreading the flight. This flight is going to be about eight hours, so I figure I'll try and get seats beside my new friends and take some Tylenol PM.
But again, it is what it is, and thinking about it and dreading it won't help or do anything, so instead, I'm going to make a pizza.