Hello readers! My name is Rachel Amereihn and I am apart of the theater group for this trip. I study Communication at the College of Saint Scholastica. I have just finished my junior year and love having this exciting experience be the bridge to my senior year. I choose to participate in this trip because it is the perfect opportunity to see another part of the world while also partaking in activities I enjoy. This trip encompasses many hobbies and interests of mine; theater, travel, history, art, taking lots and lots of pictures, and trying new things.
Yesterday morning the theater group participated in a workshop at The National Theatre and then in the evening went to The National Theatre for a show. The workshop took place at The National Theatre’s rehearsal space. The instructor of the workshop acted in the show War Horse for 2 years. Her experience in the show offered a lot of useful and unique insight to our workshop. Considering the workshop was focused on acting as a horse, her insight and experience was essential. Her roles included both being a puppeteer for the young horse Joey and being a french little farm girl during the war. She explained the amount of research an actor does for any role, and continued to emphasize how puppeteering as a horse requirers just as much research. The actors and puppeteers watched countless documentaries on horses. They would notice how they seem when they are happy, sad, young, old, scared, threaten, confident, any and all emotions. They also would listen to the noises horses make and then have exercises where they would work on mimicking those noises. Which is actually an exercise we did during the workshop. The workshop emphasized the importance of awareness in an actors body. Being completely aware and alert in your body makes for stronger positions and quicker reactions. Another aspect that was emphasized was teamwork. Three puppeteers are required to be in the horse to make it move, with two puppeteers outside on either end of the horse moving its head and tail. After the workshop the we had a free day before attending the play for that evening. Mikey and I came back to the hostel and got ready before returning to The National Theatre for the show. We did this early so we could make it to the theatre with enough time to explore the South Bank area. We found a place called the Understudy to sit outside and enjoy both the great weather and riverside view. We then saw the show, ‘The Beaux Stratagem’. The show was a comedy about a couple of con-artists who first try to marry for money, and then up marrying for love. There are many things I enjoyed about the show, the lovely theater itself, the funny character Scrub, the talented band providing the music and the creative set staging. However out of the shows we’ve seen so far on the trip, The Beaux Stratagem was my least favorite. It didn't compare to the comedy of ’39 Steps’, it wasn't as powerful as ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and ‘Les Miserable’ has it beat music wise. This isn't to say the show wasn't good, I just personally enjoyed the other shows more.
During the show's intermission I stepped out on to the balcony to enjoy the National Theatre's great view
I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop as well. I didn't know about horses to begin, but afterwards I felt very confident in my equine knowledge. From their mannerisms to their interactions with other herds, I grew an appreciation for them in general. Furthermore, I agree that the play was fantastic, but not my favorite. You are quite accurate on all accounts. I did like the folk music and can't wait to see what the future plays have in store!
ReplyDeleteI also thought the workshop was super cool. Trying to get down the steps for trotting and galloping was much more difficult than I thought it was going to be. It was especially difficult being in the back and trying to read the front person. I thought the show we saw was okay. Probably my least favorite but the choreography and the set was very cool. Very creative in how they flipped panels to show different houses.
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