Sorry, sorry!

Day 4

10a.m. First day of class. George rambles on about the structure of plays and films. Gotta love script analysis. But we’re in London, so hey! So after class, I have a jacket potato (new British fav) with chili and cheese, soooo delicious, then meet at St. Paul’s Cathedral for a tour.

Unfortunately we aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the cathedral, but it is absolutely beautiful. I choose, after the tour, to brave the 500+ stairs to the top of the dome. Precarious? Yes. Dizzying? Yes. Totally worth it? Absolutely. (pictures coming soon! They weren’t taken on my camera.)

We decide to stay for the sung Eucharist. Incense, choir boys, and Latin chants make me realize that the Church of England is a little bit much for me. But now I can say that I have taken communion in the cathedral where Princess Diana was married. Once again, famous by proxy.

After a full day of religion and history, we are starving. We head to Pizza Express, which we believe to be a fast food joint but turns out to be a classy, classy place. Who knew that in London, pizza is fine dining?

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear London. Your ads confuse me to no end. WHAT?

Maturity in London...ha.

Day 3

I’m 20!!!!!!!!!! Today May 12^th, I leave my teenagehood behind and enter into adulthood. To try to prove my maturity to myself and others, I venture with Nick to the British Museum.

After getting lost (because Nick didn’t know the way) and walking in a large rectangle around the museum, we finally find it. I’m surprised it took us as long as it did.

I mean, it is a rather imposing building with a gazillion (5) floors and who knows how many rooms and exhibits. So we walk through

Egypt: The thing from Aladdin!!!

Greece: Look! Actors!

China: This man was not pleased with Nick’s museum behavior.

And this really cool African money exhibit: The inflation was so bad at one point that their one hundred trillion dollar bill couldn’t even buy a loaf of bread.

After getting thoroughly lost inside the building (we never found Japan…) we head back to the flat, get some dinner (I cooked! I’m feeling so domestic,) and head over to the National Theatre for our first West End show, London Assurance with Mark Addy and Fiona Shaw. Written by Dion Boucicault in the 1800s, I didn’t know if I would like it, but it was absolutely hilarious. Great pick, George.

We attempt to go out after the show, but then we discover something devastating about this lovely city: everyone goes to bed early. So early!!! The pubs close at midnight, grocery stores close at 10, and everything else closes at 5. This is a problem. So we decide to have a flat get together. Fun times.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Scientology? I thought better of you. WHAT?

London Bridge is Falling Down

Day 2

8:45am. Walk over to the AIFS office for our orientation. I find out that my internship interview isn’t until next week because the producers of the company are at the Cannes Film Festival. I’m not complaining. We grab some lunch and get on a tour bus for a brief tour of London with brief stops at Buckingham Palace and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

On the Corner by St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey

Pretty excited about Buckingham Palace. The Queen was actually inside one of the over 600 rooms.

I had my picture taken at the phone booth they walk past in The Da Vinci Code. Clearly, now I am automatically famous.

Our tour guide’s name is Shaun. And he is pretty awesome and Scottish, and rather hilarious. After this, we travel across London Bridge and Tower Bridge and who knows what other bridge, and end up at the Tower of London.

Some really awesome looking catapult thing at the Tower.

I would like to point out that at this point it is very cold. And windy. But we got a pretty good tour of the grounds, saw where Anne Boelyn was beheaded, looked at the Crown Jewels…very fancy indeed, learned about the two princes who were murdered in the Bloody Tower, and saw Henry VIII’s armour with the giant…cup shall we call it? Henry was very insecure about his own manhood.

Little glass pillow memorial for all the nobility who were killed here. Henry's cup picture to come.

We end the evening with another pub and a delicious burger (I’m hoping for not Mad Cow…) and a first exciting trip on the tube, which is my new favorite mode of transportation.

Pretty kickin' picture I took at the Fulham Broadway Station.

There are signs every ten feet for easily confused people like me, and I just get it. Also, there are fascinating people to be found on the tube. On a side note, the calmness of the tube’s loudspeaker is rather unsettling. The other day, the lady on the loudspeaker kept saying “Due to there being a person UNDER THE TRAIN, the Central line is not running.” A person UNDER THE TRAIN. Then it happened again two days later. Apparently this is a normal occurrence in London. Nicole told me, “That person clearly did not mind the gap.” They always say that as well. Mind the Gap, so people don’t get stuck in the gap between the platform and the train. Erin wanted to know why they didn’t just fix the damn gap. Good question.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Weeds are not a building material. WHAT?

I wanna be just like the Spice Girls

For the next few weeks, this blog will chronicle my many adventures in London, England. Get ready and get excited! Unfortunately, I haven’t sat down to do this until now and I’ve been here almost a week. Soooo. Here goes.

Oh! I’ve realized that London is a rather strange place with very interesting and confuddling sights. For this reason, I have chosen to include a daily segment for a series entitled “London, WHAT?” Enjoy.

Day 1

Arrive in London horribly jetlagged. It’s five hours ahead here and our flight left at 11pm Atlanta time. Oy. We ride a charter bus the hour or so to our flat, Endsleigh Court. It is in the Bloomsbury area of London. Very cute, right in the middle of everything. And then, we go searching for cell phones. And get terribly lost. George, our professor, abandons us frequently. But it is better this way because I am forced to learn the ways of the world. Nick is supposed to be my travel buddy, but he frequently loses me.

After finally purchasing 16 identical cell phones (Which is no small feat. The man working at the store about cried when he kindly asked "How many do you need?" and we answered "16."), we head to the aptly named London Pub for our first British meal. All but two ordered fish and chips. Classic. I would also like to point out that at this point I have no idea what day it is, what time it is, how long I have been awake, or when the last time I took a shower was.

LONDON, WHAT?

Dear, London. Your window displays look like they were designed by alien Disney loving cowboys. Again, WHAT?

Theatre in Rough Economic Times: What Do You Need?

Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999), a Polish theatre director and innovator, had an interesting take on what theatre really needs, a view that in these times, might be worth revisiting. In the most basic of terms, Grotowski believed that the only things necessary for true theatre to exist were an actor and an audience; someone to tell a story and someone to tell a story to. His book Towards a Poor Theatre details the three main goals of poor theatre:

1. To rediscover the connection between actor and audience

2. To return to ritual and the role of myth

3. To focus on the actor as a sign

Trained in the system of Konstantin Stanislavski, Grotowski’s methods have a similar basis, yet a distinct simplicity toward characterization. Grotowski taught a principle known as Via Negativa: the way to nothingness. In order to become another character, you must first drain completely who you are as an actor. An actor must sacrifice his body to the character.

One of his most popular exercises is called Plastique Rivers. Simply begin from alignment and start with an isolated impulse of a body part and let it flow. One impulse will lead to another impulse, and eventually different movements and images will develop and emerge. Grotowski also believed that actors are hindered by their psychological blocks and must do whatever they can to overcome them. An extremely effective way to overcome your personal mannerisms as an actor and create a physical body for your character is by creating what Grotowski called a grotesque. Imagine each part of your character’s body as an inanimate object and draw it for reference. Then, physically portray your grotesque and move as that body would move. The grotesque will almost certainly be too intense for the purpose of the character. At this point, the veiling process begins. One or two of the inanimate objects will emerge as the most important aspects of the character’s body. As you bring down the intensity of the grotesque, keep those few aspects in the physical body of the character. After veiling it several times, you will then have a body specific to your character and completely unlike yourself. For example, below is a grotesque created for a very twisted and broken character, Roberta, from John Patrick Shanley’s Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

Jerzy Grotowski’s method is all about soul searching. He frequently had actos ask themselves questions similar to:

Why am I here?

What is my acting process?

What have I done so far?

What do I want?

What questions or dificulties do I have?

What blocks do I possess?

What is my will?

What drives me through life?

Many theatrical productions of the day focus on the spectacle provided by expensive technological innovations. Though to some it will feel like regressing, perhaps the economic strain put on the arts in this economy is a good excuse to reevaluate what really matters in theatre. Grotowski had it right: all you need is an actor, an audience, and a story. The rest is extra.

Based loosely on a lecture given by director, dramaturg, filmmaker, and SAG and Equity actor George Contini. For more information see http://www.amazon.com/Towards-Poor-Theatre-Routledge-Paperback/dp/0878301550

Negative Rejection

I'm really close to being ready to give up.

Yesterday, I received my adjudication sheets from GTC. I clearly didn't pass.

Today, I found that I wasn't cast in any of next semester's shows. Again.

Maybe I should change my major. Maybe this is just a hint for me to pick something different. "You love it, but you suck." Maybe that's the message.

Unlike other majors, getting A's in all your classes, being well-liked by your professors, involving yourself in extracurriculars ISN'T ENOUGH.

What is enough? When is it time to just throw in the towel?

Is it now?

3, 2, 1

One. More. Audition.

Then I'll be done! Miracle of miracles!

Last weekend I went to Columbus for that GTC audition. It was absolutely terrifying. 250 auditionees, 30 in a group, 90 seconds per person. I felt confident about it afterwards, but I don't think I passed. It was a good experience anyway.

I had forgotten though how ridiculous theatre people are. I hadn't gone to a theatre conference like that since high school, and it hit me just how laid back the majors of the UGA theatre department are. They are just as equally talented and passionate, but they aren't as....Uptight? Intensly competitive? High and mighty? Full of themselves? That is the reputation of a theatre student at most artistic colleges. Their departments are beautiful, their facilities are state of the art, they have all the money in the world. And they think they are hot stuff.

I've come to realize that as much as we gripe and complain about out lack of funds and lack of performance spaces at UGA, these hardships actually make our shows better. Really. When you have anything and everything, there is no need for creativity. You have it all, so your shows look like little cookie cutters. Here, we have to stretch. Our faculty came from professional theatre in New York, most of them have their PhD or at least their masters in theatre. They are extraordinarily knowledgeable and creative. Every show done at UGA is different. Different from the mainstream, more avant-garde. Because most props are found, costumes are sewn or thrifted, light instruments are limited, the emphasis of the show is on the acting and the directing. The Grapes of Wrath, one of this season's unproduced shows, is a wonderful example of this. (An unproduced show is one which receives even LESS money than the rest of the shows. And by less I mean $0. Literally.) All sound effects were created offstage, actors bought their own costumes at thrift shops, props were picked out of the garbage. A car was built onstage using scraps. It was absolutely incredible. Despite the lack of funds, the show was one of the best I have seen in years. The acting was fantastic and the creativity unparalleled. UGA rocks theatre. No matter what anyone says.

So tonight I audition, once again, to be a part of one of next semester's shows. Three minutes. Two contrasting monologues. One more time.