How Time Flies

Another week, another post. I have officially made it through a month of drama school and I feel crazier already.
We started our Jacobean unit on Monday and found out that our class would be performing "The Changeling" by Thomas Middleton. It took 7 days and countless readings, but we finally got cast, and wouldn't you know it - I'm playing a boy! And not only that, the comic relief! You can take the girl out of comedies... But it's great. My part is Jasperino, the silly servant who saves the day (not actually, but that's how I'd like to think of him), and the play is totally new to me and a really good dramatic piece. It's nice to start working on something a bit more concrete now that we're seemingly past our introduction stage. Who knows what I'll be saying in a week when It's time to be off-book, but for now, it's good.
Another busy week of school and such, but Wednesday brought an unexpected early end to my school day (by that, I mean, I expected to get out at 9pm but instead I got out at 5:30pm), so a few of us rushed over to Covent Garden and bought tickets to see "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett. It's a one-man show starring Michael Gambon (of Dumbeldore #2 fame) and it was possibly one of the most riveting pieces of the theatre that I have ever been able to see. Granted, it was Beckett, so there was a lot of silence and a lot of repetition, but for 50 minutes I was able to do nothing else but stare at this man on stage, eagerly awaiting his next move. I couldn't believe how into it I was and how quickly it was over, but it totally convinced me that strong theatre does not necessarily mean long theatre.
The next night was another theatre extravaganza as we headed back to The Globe to see "The Merry Wives of Windsor". It was a play that I wasn't very familiar with going into, but the cast was great, the story accessible and I am so pleased with the tradition of ending every show at the Globe with a full-cast song and dance number! We alll left with huge smiles on our faces and, for me, it was really amazing to see a Shakespeare play in the Globe for the first time.
My friend from GW was in this weekend to visit around London and it was a great excuse to go and do all of the touristy things that I have been wanting to do for a while but that most of my friends have been to before. On Saturday we headed to Russel Square to the British Museum and it was quite interesting until the fire alarm went off and we were kindly escorted out of the building. From there we headed, in very overcast rainy weather, to Tower Bridge and did the walk across, only to walk back and hop on the tube towards Mansion House, i.e. The Globe and the Tate Modern. I have been talking about going to the Tate Modern pretty much since I arrived and am very glad I can finally say I went inside! It's really overwhelming based on just how much there is to see, but I got to spend a solid hour in 1 exhibit before we headed over to meet friends for dinner at Wagamamas, a VERY yummy noodle place that has yet to make it over to the States. I will begin writing letters to the company immediately to correct this.
To continue our whirlwind London experience, the next day we went to Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery, and perused most of the 17th and 18th centuries, in art-form, of course. It's a huge museum and nearly impossible to take-in in just one day, but I thought we did pretty well, and we rewarded ourselves by walking over to Covent Garden Markets. We intended to find crepes, what we had been craving pretty much all day, but were totally side-tracked by a street performer who was fully equipped with a mic-pack and a 6-foot unicycle. Needless to say, we stuck around for the end of his show and rewarded ourselves with crepes afterwards. It was a great weekend.
And now I'm back to school, only an abridged version because we have our trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon this Wednesday to Friday, which should be really fun. It will be a nice chance to all be together in a more relaxed environment, and even though the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is closed (tear, tear), I'm sure it will be a fabulous trip for us, an a needed break from our 50+ hour weeks.
In the wake of the 1 month mark and my dash home drawing nearer, I constantly have to remind myself that this is really my life. Sometimes it feels like everything is a blurred montage of classes, shows and food with sleep showing up wherever it can squeeze itself in. That's not a totally terrible thing, just a reality check. There are plenty of times when I'd like nothing more than to wave the white flag and tell the world that I can't do one more sit up, or roll-up or anything-up, but then I remember that this crazy thing is actually what I want to be doing. I was hoping to use this trip as a guide in order to know whether or not I am really ready to relinquish any sense of stability in my life and give into the insanity that is being in this theatre-world. It may be a bit early to say that I've made any final decisions, but, I'm getting pretty close - and it feels good.