Friday Acting Loves

Remember that time I freaked out about having an eight hour acting workshop every week? Remember how I didn't know what I was going to do with all that time and wasn't just trusting that it would all work out? Well, I should have.

I have had three Fridays so far and I have survived each one of them. The first week we worked on Miracle plays and the very start of story-telling theater. We were handed a script and had to just play with it and block it and cast it. We worked out how the story would be told and what was actually needed. 8 hours- done!

The next week we worked on monologues from Shakespeare. We were each handed the same pieces and we read through them and talked about the choice of words and the phrasing. We looked at the metaphors and when the play appeared in Shakespeare's folio and how that effects the playing of it. We talked about the who and the how and the who. It was a day of on our feet exercises and studying the texts. 8 more hours- DONE! And I'm more in love than ever before.

(If you're following along at home, we worked on Richard III's first speech (Now is the winter of our discontent), the rape monologue from Titus Andronicus (Who is this? my niece, that flies away so fast!)  and the tent monologue from Richard III (Oh I have passed a miserable night). We also worked on some clown monologues: Lance's Two Gentlemen of Verona (Nay, 'twill be this hour ere I have done weeping.) and the scene between the brothers in Comedy of Errors.)

Today (Friday) we worked on the character development of the play we will be performing as our end of term project, Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women. We have not been cast yet, so we all are working  together to get to know the journey each character takes in the play. We spend the entire day working on the events each character experiences and how it effects everyone else. It was wonderful to have us all contribute to every character, not just the one we will be working on. We all had to know why the Duke did what he did and why Bianca did what she did. We all have to know what The Ward is doing and why the Mother says what she says. It's vital to the understanding of the play as a whole.

That is something I love about this process. It is wonderful to experience the joy of bringing a play to life without the business side of things. I have spent the better part of 10 years trying to "get the part" and then get the next one. I've worked on musicals and plays as a production and what ticket sales it can bring to the playhouse more than as a work of art that is being produced because it's amazing. I've gotten caught up in having to sell myself in an effort to climb the LA theater ladder instead of truly enjoying bring the story of someone to the stage. There are obviously exceptions to that, but on the whole I have spent more time trying to get cast than truly enjoying being an actor.

20 hours a week of acting workshop will definitely bring that love back. I thank the universe every day that I get to do this for a living. And one of these days, I'll get paid for it!

A Tuesday in the Trenches

Today I sang my song for Song Class. I'm working on "(Not) Getting Married Today" from Company. It's a beast of a song and I have been trying to memorize the words for 2 weeks. Along with two long-ass scenes and two sonnets. The song tutor (they call them tutors instead of professors here), Dominique, is really great with us and is able to pinpoint our problem areas and work with them. He and I worked with me breaking down each of the beats even more and showing the emotions more fully in my face. It was intense and I was mentally exhausted. I'm pretty sure you can't work on that song for more than 20 minutes before going insane. This is a proven fact.


Then Contextual Studies where we talked about the Renaissance period in history. It's really hard to squash 400 years of enlightenment into an hour lecture, but David is amazing and did it. It's such a joy to listen to him. I am constantly amazed by his wealth of knowledge and ability to engage us.


Acting Workshop was next and we finished reading Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton. It's the play we're working on for our final workshop and are still in the initial reading of it. The play is really good and has some amazing, layered female characters. We are being cast as play for all our projects. That means we don't audition, the tutors just tell us which part we'll work on. It's interesting to hear the conversations everyone has speculating who will play which part. I'm interested in what I'll get to work on, who wouldn't be? But I also trust our tutors and know that they won't give us anything we can't handle or don't need. I'm here to learn and will willingly take anything I'm giving.


It was a great day at school and I am exhausted. Got to have some fish 'n chips at a quiet pub in Birmingham, which was really good. And a Guinness. Because you can't go to the theater without a Guinness.

The Day I Stood on The Globe Stage

This morning we all meet at school at 8:45a to get on the bus that will take us to London. No one is especially excited to be at school on a Sunday, but we know it will be worth it. The trip takes about 2.5 hours and I spend it reading the play we're doing for our final project this term and chatting with the guys sitting around me. It's the first time we are all together outside of school and we get to know each other a little better.

 Once we get to London we all walk along the Thames to the theater. We are about an hour early so we head in for lunch. The guys and I find a Greek restaurant and introduce Chris to some good Greek food. I'm reminded of my days spent in Greece last October and have a Mythos beer to celebrate how far I've come in a year. Of course I don't tell the guys why I'm celebrating. It's too long a story and...well....they are boys.

After lunch we all meet at the theater again and get our schedule for the day. First we go on a walking tour of The Globe. This is the first time I've been inside the theater and I am taken aback by its size, both at how small it is and how tall. It's open air, with three levels of audience seating as well as the "groundlings" area in front. After studying Elizabethan life for the past two weeks I can really put myself in the world that would have existed 500 years ago. The dress, the smells, the people. It's amazing. The seats are wood and there is no precinium. Along the inside of the Lord boxes are gorgeous paintings of Greek gods and mythological creatures. There is symbolism in everything.

Our tour guide, Amy, tells us a little more about the history of the theater and then we are shuffled off to meet with Yolanda, our workshop guide for the next hour. We follow her up the back stairs (which are gorgeous) and onto the stage. ONTO THE STAGE!! I have the same feeling I had when I stepped on a Broadway stage for the first time. My dream, my goal, is suddenly very real and very attainable. As I stand on that stage and look up at all the "people" in the seats, I believe in my heart of hearts that I will stand on that stage as an actress in one of their productions in this life. I will see that dream come true.

We work for an hour on the stage. Walking around it, getting used to playing all the sides of it and to everyone in the house. It's a different feeling to think you have to connect with people sitting almost over your head. It's a new muscle to bring in people from 270 degrees around you. We work some pieces of text and start to think about what we would have to do differently if we were working in that house. They don't use amplification at all and the need for proper vocal strength and stamina become apparent. The sheer physical power one needs to succeed in this space is astounding, and very motivating.

Me ON The Globe stage!

We next work with one of the actors from the past season, Philip, on some more movement exercises and acting tools we can use. We are in the rehearsal space now and it's neat to think about the people who have worked in that space. The people who have worked to make beloved and feared characters come to life in that Elizabethan stage. I stay focused and try to remember everything we do so I can write it down in my workbook and use it someday, either with a cast or with students.

The day ends with a little shopping (I am a good girl and don't buy anything, knowing I'll be back at some point.) and then we head back on the bus. I watch my iPhone TV shows on the way back, doze a little bit, and talk with Catherine. It's neat to get to know my classmates a better, kind of see where they are coming from in this life.

2012 MA:Brit Trad students

It was an amazing day in all respects. Getting to go to London is always a treat. I'm reminded of my time there a few years ago and start to seriously think about whether I want to stay once my course is over. The idea of living in London for a year, just because I can, is enthralling. I would love to have a London address and go to auditions here. See more of the world and make a living on the West End stage. I could do it! The thought makes me smile and I spend a few moments of the driving daydreaming about the amazing life I would live, with my London flat and agents lining up to cast me. It's the perfect time to do it, and the idea of that being an actual reality is a little daunting. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to deal with what lies ahead of me after school.

Standing on that stage gives me life. It gives me drive and power and a renewed need for success. Every time I stand on a stage I am reminded why I do what I do and why I sacrifice so much. Having the chance to do that this early in the MA program game was a real treat.

The Thames at dusk

An Idiot Chair in Every Country

Many people want to know the differences in the two countries I have lived in, USA and UK. There are many physical differences:

- People walk on the left side of the road, like they drive, so I have spent the first week here running into people as I try to wade through the busy streets.

- The light sockets all have to be turned on. There is a switch next to all of them that must be clicked before the socket will work.

- Shut up is used as a tool for telling people to be quiet in a polite way, not rudely to tell people to shut their mouths. (One of my acting teachers actually explained this to our class so we wouldn't take offense when he eventually says it. I thought that was endearing.)

- On the keyboard the @ sign is where the " is and visa versa. Have to learn to retype when I'm at school.

However, for all the differences (and there are more, which I will continue to discover in my next year here) people are innately the same. The greatest showing of this is the department store. As I walked through Mark & Spencers today, a store a lot like the American Macy's, I watched the people. What did I see? Men being led around by women on a mission to buy something. The thing that made me laugh? Discovering the men sitting in the "Idiot Chair".

Every department store has an Idiot Chair. This is the chair where the men sit while the women try on clothes. It's usually right next to the fitting room and allows the men to rest while women come and go with different sizes and styles, sometimes stopping to hear what he has to say about a particular article. It also gives men the chance to watch other women trying on their clothes and give opinions.

When I glanced over and saw the two men sitting in the chairs, one in his 20's one in his 50's, I giggled and felt my heart lift. It was a gentle reminder that  people are basically the same, no matter where we live. And no matter how much mayonnaise we put on our sandwiches.

MA Brit Trad Day 1

When I left for school everyone ask to be kept up to date with what I'm learning and what I'm doing here. I had a few people ask for the reading list so they can "get smart too". My goal is to write a little bit every day, as long as there is something interesting to write about. The books we read are really interesting, so I def recommend them if you are looking for something to fill your brain. I'll also have a post this weekend about life here in the UK. Because it is a different country and I don't want to forget all the little things I see that make me go hmmmmmm.

Notes from day 1:

- Got to work on my scene with Sarah and Charles today. For our first assignment we were given a scene from "The Duchess of Malfi". If you haven't read it, I suggest it as a great play. Webster is violent with his plots, but gorgeous with his prose. He is one of Shakespeare's contemporaries and I love his work. Sarah and I are both working on the part of the Duchess and it's neat to see Sarah take on the scene and also to watch Charles work with both of us.

- After acting workshop Sarah and I sat on the steps outside the school and each read our books. It's neat to hang out with people who have as much work as I do and have the desire to work on it, no matter if there are other people around. It was really nice to sit together and read our books separately. It was really comforting.

- Second class of the day was Research Methodology where we learn how to do our final project, our thesis. It was a lecture class and kind of like all first day classes: filled with random info and the promise of more work the next time we meet. I'm excited about my research project and really excited to see what it actually becomes. So many options.

- Our last class of the day was stage combat. Today we worked on swordplay and I loved it! We got to work with the rapiers. I took a year of fencing in undergrad and really enjoyed it. I'm really excited to learn all the different ways to combat people on stage. Because we focus on Renaissance pieces of work this term, we are learning all the different ways and weapons used in that time period. We'll work with all the weapons we'll eventually come across in our careers as classical actors. (My career! Hooray!)

I had a really good day with everything. I'm exhausted, but thankfully it's still the first week so there is not a lot of homework yet and I can get to sleep before midnight. I have to memorize a ten minute scene and read a TON of books, but it will all get done. Tonight I got to Skype, Facebook and post my blog. Add that to the tradition of some good ice cream and I'd say today was a success.

Catch you up tomorrow!