Two Weeks of Insanity...

A two-week catch-up:

Greetings from Londontown! I have been in a whirlwind, as usual, so this is going to cover 2 weeks! Sorry...

A couple of weeks ago, we tackled Laban technique with Sara. Rudolph Laban was a German practitioner that looked at movement in regards to an effort scale. We played with the opposite nature of movement in our bodies and how you can incorporate these sensations into a character's movement and emotional life. For instance, you can play opposites, one external and one internal, to give your character such incredible depth. It was an amazing, movement-filled, creative week that examined our postures, our walks and our natural tendencies within movement. Here is the Laban Effort graph to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about:



I have to mention that I love being a student here in London. There are so many opportunities to get cheap tickets!!! Last Saturday I saw 2 shows for about $40 total. That's impossible to do in NYC. The matinee show that we saw was called Blue on Blue at a pub theatre venue called Theatre 503. A company called Shotgun produced it. They have a "gym" in their space where actors, directors, writers, etc. can go to work on their craft. You can work monologues and scenes, develop plays and new works, etc. The show was amazing and their work ethic really reflected in their production. I hope to get involved with them in the future. Afterwards, 4 of us ran around the West End to try and find last minute, student concession tickets. We ended up at the Wyndham Theatre seeing a play by John Mortimer called Voyage Round My Father. It was brilliant. And it was nice to go into a show not knowing anything about it. A truly fresh look. All four of us loved it and I am so glad we got cheap tickets! ;)



This week we settled back into the groove with Brian, our acting teacher that we will now be with until the end of term. There are three groups of MA Actors and we are each with one of the three acting tutors working on scenes from Russian authors. We are tackling scenes from 4 different plays. A Month in the Country by Turganev and Platonov, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull by Chekhov. We read through them all this week and were given our parts on Friday. I was cast as Arkadina in The Seagull and I am thrilled! It's an incredible role and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it! We will then show our work before all of the groups as well as staff. We are so excited to really get started. To be honest, I never really understood Chekhov fully until I had the tremendous fortune of doing The Cherry Orchard in Seattle. I now truly see the intimacy of his characters and their plots and the beauty with which he wrote. What a treat.

Yesterday, my friend Russ and I headed to the Menier Chocolate Factory (where I saw The Last Five Years ) to see Little Shop of Horrors. It starred Michael McShane (big Canadian guy from Who's Line is it Anyway?) as the plant. It was all right. Not tremendous. It seemed underehearsed and the technical difficulties totally distracted both the audience as well as the performers. It seemed as though no one really recovered gracefully. To be fair, this was only their second preview so I hope they pick it up. It's a wonderful venue and they usually produce great work, I hope this is no different in the end...

Today, I traveled to Godalming (about a 40 minute train ride Southwest of London) to see my oldest friend in Britain, Will Baldwin. We met when I was studying abroad at Goldsmith’s College during the fall of '97. He is a true friend and it was great to see where he is living - the cutest, quaintest village that I have seen. He teaches Psychology A Levels (16-18 year olds) and is basically, a sweetheart. I had a great day.





This coming Tuesday will mark my third week of tap class. I love teaching my fellow MA'ers! Everyone is so incredibly enthusiastic and I am having such a blast! We meet on Tuesday nights at 7pm for an hour and are tapping up a storm. It's definitely a highlight of my week.

OK, I think that takes us up to the present. I will try and be better with posting every week as I was doing before. I will make an effort to find the time - I know how important it is for me to chronicle this journey for myself as well as for you all. Hope you are well...