On Thursday, the
theater group and the literature group split for the day. The literature
group went to a graveyard to see some famous corpses. The theater group
participated in a super-awesome-cool stage combat workshop.
We learned how to
slap, punch, and choke our fellow actors safely. It is completely
different from martial arts. Its to be expected, of course. In martial
arts, the point is to hurt the other person.
After, a few of us
went to take pictures. We went by the lions outside the National
Gallery, and then to Westminster so I could get a picture at one of the
oversized phonebooths. For dinner I had an acceptable pot pie.
In the evening, we saw The Play That Goes Wrong.
I had no idea what to expect. When we reached the theater, one of the
reviews they had posted read “ITS AS IF THE MOUSETRAP HAS BEEN TAKEN
OVER BY MONTY PYTHON.” This was going to be good.
My goodness, good
was an understatement. I loved it so much I purchased the script at the
box office. I don’t even know what words to say about it. It was
hilarious. It was fun to watch. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It
was amazing. And it was so much better having seen The Mousetrap beforehand too. I felt I caught more of the murder mystery nuances there, as well as the parodies of specific characters.
7 out of 5: Would Recommend to Friends.
Friday. Went to the
Victoria and Albert Museum. Saw some stuff. The old statues and stuff
were cool, especially the pair of statues “Valor crushes Cowardice” and
“Truth slays Lies.” They even had an Oculus Rift!
After eating, I
picked up a piece of German Crumb Cake, a piece of Clotted Cream Fudge,
and Cream Fudge. They were all amazing. I also had a major sugar crash
soon after. Oops.
We then went to the
Tate Modern, an art gallery for modern art. I’m not much of a modern
art person, so I was only there for about 20 minutes before I wandered
back to the hostel to recover from my sugar crash (I did see everything
before I left, promise!). Maybe I’ll check out the Tate Britain instead
sometime.
Then we saw an adaptation of Everyman. Fantastic. I gave it a standing ovation, the only one I have so far this trip. If I gave The Play That Goes Wrong a “7 out of 5,” then Everyman
gets a “9 out of 5.” It was thought-provoking: it makes you consider
everything about yourself. I don’t want to talk too much about it, so as
to avoid giving many spoilers. One thing I will say about it though, is
that the adaptation was beautifully done. I was somewhat familiar with
the play beforehand (remember, I learned my lesson after Les Mis!), and I was expecting a Shakespearian-style or Reconstruction-style play. Not so. Everyman blew my expectations right out of the water. This was the only play in England that I awarded a standing ovation. It deserved it.
Needless to say, I purchased another script from the gift shop.
Fortunately, the
employee was restocking the shelf when I was looking for it, otherwise I
wouldn’t have seen that it was for sale. The adapted version!
Matthew is a senior studying Computer Science
at the College of Saint
Scholastica. Not content with only working with computers, Matthew also
performs in the CSS Theater, studies business, finance, economics, the
physical sciences, and loves to go ballroom dancing. He is a voracious
reader. His hobby is to learn about as many
different fields, and about as many different topics, as he can. Matthew
also enjoys writing about himself in the third person. For more from
Matthew, visit him at matthewrandolph.com.
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