Make Your Own Theater

Hello everybody, Dawson here.
Yesterday, our London Literature class split from the rest of the group and visited the Charles Dickens Museum. It was very interesting to see the writing desk that fostered the creations of one of the authors we read in class earlier this semester. We ate lunch at the museum and then met back up with the Theater group at the British Museum to look at the exhibits there. I love the British Museum because there is so much to explore there and even though I had been to it before, I still had so many exhibits to visit. My favorite exhibit that I visited in the museum was a room filled with pocket watches and intricate clocks.
After breaking free from the rest of the group, Tasha and I took the tube to Covent Garden to adventure through the market that the area has to offer. We were walking through the market when we came across the sign for an "Old-Fashioned Toy Store" and I immediately wanted to go in to see what was offered. We walked up two flights of stairs painted in an innocent, child-like fashion and finally stepped into Benjamin Pollock's Toyshop. Wow, this shop was awesome. There were toys at great prices, for how rare they were. The coolest part of the shop was that they sold theaters that you could make out of paper. In London, we have gone to countless theaters and seen countless shows and to see these theaters was wonderful. Each set would provide the means to create and perform, with the use of paper puppets, one classical play or musical. The theaters ranged in size from ones smaller than a matchbox to ones that were larger than a laptop or small television screen. With them, you could perform plays like Oliver Twist, Cinderella, and even Alice in Wonderland. I fell in love with the atmosphere of the store and learned from the cashier as I checked out that the store had been running under the same name since the 1800s. I left the store with a set that will produce a Harlequin show and a smile on my face.

Tea with Cream and Salt

Hello it’s Maethe again!

Today was another busy day in London. We started it off by going to a stage combat workshop. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this as I do not have much experience in theater. It was surprisingly fun, especially the ways we learned to play with depth and distance. I had no idea before the workshop that the actors may not even be near each other during part of a fight scene. After the workshop we had some free time, then we got a little dressed up and went to an afternoon tea. This was definitely a highlight of the day. I expected a few sandwiches and scones with tea, but it was so much more! It was three courses of food and multiple pages of tea choices. We started with five different types of finger sandwiches, and tea of course! Next, we had mini bacon and brie quiches with small mozzarella balls. After that was dessert! There were four different types of small pastries, scones with clotted cream and jam, and chocolate cake. The chocolate cake we were able to take with us, which good because at that point I don’t think any of us could eat anymore! All of the food was delicious, and it was such a fun experience.

We ended the day by seeing Salt at the Royal Court. Salt is a one woman show written by Selina Thompson. It tells the story of her journey to retrace the Transatlantic Slave Triangle, taking a cargo ship from the UK to Ghana, then to Jamaica and back to the UK. It was quite a deep and emotional story, especially as it was in quite a small, intimate theatre.

Overall, it was another great day in London full of new experiences. We have less than one week left in this amazing city and I’m excited for our last few adventures!

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

For my third (and final) blog post, I finally get to write about London! Yay! Today was one filled with museums. For the first time, the full group was separated into the two classes. While the theatre students toured the National Theatre, the literature students headed to the Charles Dickens Museum. I was looking forward to seeing this museum as I've read quite a bit of Dickens' work, including A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, and, of course, Oliver Twist.

The Dickens Museum is actually what used to be the Dickens's family home, located at 48 Doughty Street in Bloomsbury. It was a unique experience to get to be in the same place once owned by such a famous author. We were able to see all five floors and all rooms of the house, including the dining room, the drawing room, the bedrooms, and Dickens's study. Probably my favorite part of the museum was seeing Dickens's desk, where he wrote many of his later works, as well as a page from the original draft of Oliver Twist! One thing I learned was that he was a fan of the novel Robinson Crusoe, which may have inspired his love of travel. In his lifetime, he traveled to Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and twice to America.

After viewing the museum, we had ample time to sit the garden behind the house and enjoy some food and drinks from the café. I had cream tea for the first time, which came with a fruit scone with clotted cream and jam. It was delicious! I wasn't planning on it, but I ended up drinking the whole pot of tea. Finally, we met up with the theatre students at the British Museum, where we were tasked with finding the top ten artifacts from our Top Ten London 2019 book.

These artifacts were the Parthenon Sculptures, the mummified cats, the Ram in a Thicket ornament, a double-headed serpent mosaic, the Rosetta Stone, the Portland Vase, a stone lintel, Mildenhall treasure, Ramesses II, and the Mask of the Nulthamalth. One thing I found intriguing is that there is some controversy surrounding the British Museum's possession of some of the Parthenon Sculptures, as Greece's government has advocated that all of the sculptures should be located in Athens.


Although we still have a little under a week left of the trip, this will be my last post, so I just wanted to say thank you for following along with our journey! This is Alyssa Luukkonen, signing off.

London (and Tokyo) Arts & Culture

Today was a fairly busy day! To start the morning, our two class groups split up. I am a student in the theatre group so I went with everyone to the National Theatre in London where we were given a backstage tour. We learned that the National Theatre has three auditoriums and we got a look at each one. We kind of went in order from the biggest to the smallest, and each one had something that made it unique and different from other, more traditional theatres in London. We also got to tour the workshop spaces in the building and caught a glimpse of their set building process. My favorite part was looking at the prop building and prop buying rooms. We saw one guy building a fake piano for an upcoming show and I felt like building/buying props would be a cool job to have. 

In the afternoon, everyone met up at the British Museum. The theatre kids didn't have time to eat beforehand, so we ate at a cafe in the museum and then we were on our own to explore. I was excited to look at some of the best artifacts that the museum has. I was able to find some interesting stuff but I found that it was hard to see everything because of how crowded and huge it was. The first thing I saw was the Rosetta Stone and that was pretty cool to see in person. I was mainly interested in their Egypt displays. I find mummies very interesting but also very unsettling, so it was a weird experience. The picture on the left shows some mummified cats. There's also a mummified fish. 

After a few hours, everyone from our group started to head back to the hotel or go off to do other things. I stayed at the museum, however, because I booked myself a ticket to see the museum's newest exhibition about manga. I really like reading manga and watching anime in my free time so I wanted to see what the exhibition was all about and what kind of stuff they would be displaying. I spent about an hour inside and it was super cool! I really liked the big art on the walls and I liked learning about how manga started and what it means to Japanese culture. There were so many different displays. It started with the beginning of manga and ended with modern manga. One of the coolest things was looking at how manga is made and getting to read about the lives of different artists and wh Since it's an exhibition it won't be there for very long, so I'm glad I got to see it!

A Look Behind the Scenes of the National Theatre

Today, we separated into separate groups - literature (12) and theatre (8) students - and adventured to the Charles Dickens Museum and National Theatre, respectively. I went along with the theatre group to the Royal National Theatre, one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent performing arts venues, near the Southbank of London. We went on a guided tour to get a sneak peek of what happens on and off the three different stages founded in the complex.

Outside view of the Royal National Theatre

Started in 1963, the National Theatre has been home to hundreds of shows; their first production was Hamlet. Whatever the time of year, the theatre has a multitude of productions being put on because of the ability to take down and erect set designs in the three different theatres - Dorfman, Lyttelton, and Olivier theatres. Each auditorium is unique in its own way. For example, the largest theatre is the Olivier. The seating spans 118 degrees for continuous [optimal] view for both the audience and the actors. It has a revolving stage where the platform - 18 meters in diameter - can rotate to allow for more efficient transitions and technical work. It consists of a large pillar that is 168 tons and can go down 20 meters. The Lyttelton theatre can hold 890 seats and is very similar to a traditional stage. Finally, the Dorfman theatre is much smaller and is a black box theatre where seating and stage work can be drastically manipulated to fit the needs of each production. 

 I was shocked to hear they can put on about 30 productions each year! In addition, they will often put on live shows that are broadcasted on large screens for a different audience using the same or similar content from the stage production. But when we got a look behind the scenes, we were taken down winding corridors and halls to large open spaces used for scene work, the prop shop, construction, and every other department that is required to help with putting on a production. I was astonished by the number of props, set designs, costumes, and general supplies that they use. One of my favorite views (as seen below) is the stage design area where some very creative people were creating moss flooring and towering palm trees for an upcoming production. 

Panorama shot of the Set Design Space

In the works of creating the moss flooring.

A Night of Empowerment.

We started our morning with a clipper (boat) ride to Greenwich. We toured the Queens House, which now houses a little over seven hundred paintings. We then went to a cafe for lunch before going to the Greenwich Observatory. Where we stood on either side of the Prime Meridian! We had some free time where we went for some coffee near the hotel. Our show for the evening was Emilia. I went in not knowing the plot at all. It revolved around a woman named Emilia who was way ahead of her time. She was a poet and a feminist one at that. It was a story about her life. The loss of her parents and child and not being able to publish her work. I won't give too much away though. I loved the ending where she gave a speech about how we as women need to stand up for ourselves. That we should support each other. I was blown away, the entire cast was so passionate about this show. I think that's what made me like it even more. They were also all women which was funny when you realized they were playing men. In Shakespeares time women weren't allowed on stage. I'm so glad we got too see this show and learn more about this woman Emilia. This photo is of a pamphlet thrown into the crowd when they started publishing her work. It added to the show, it made it more real for me. Out of all the shows we could have seen I'm glad this one was picked.

Greenwich

Hello yet again!

It is crazy to say that we now have 1 week left of this trip. Really though, we have 6 more days of activities coming up, including one free day. This morning I got up a bit later for breakfast because we didn’t have to leave until 9:15am. We made our way down to a pier on the River Thames by taking the tube. We rode on a clipper (a boat) to Greenwich. It was cloudy and quite breezy out today. Luckily, the seats were inside the clipper! We disembarked and headed to The Queen’s House for a tour. The Queen’s House was designed by Inigo Jones as a present for Anne of Denmark—it was an apology from King James I. It now holds many paintings. After a hike up a hill (a STEEP hill) we made it to a cafe for lunch before heading to the Royal Observatory. This was all about astronomy and navigation in relation to longitudinal and latitudinal lines. We all got to straddle the prime meridian! Luckily it wasn’t until the end of our time there that it started to rain, so a group of us hurried off to catch a clipper back. I stopped at Tesco on the way to the hotel for some snacks—with the rain, this meant a chill afternoon for me! Tonight we saw Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre. I’ve seen posters for this show in tube stations that described the show as “Saturday Night Live meets Shakespeare,” so I’ve been pretty excited for this one! During the show I laughed, I got chills, and at times, I wanted to cry. This show was different than most of the others we’ve seen in many ways, but the best difference was that the actors appeared in the audience throughout the performance and interacted with the audience on occasion! It was an all female cast and honestly so empowering—I really enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to the last several shows we’ll be seeing in London!

The Queen’s House as seen from

the observatory

Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre

My Heart Wants to Sing and Dance!

Today was a great day filled with new information, great food, and a great performance at the end of the day. Starting off our day, we had our usual english breakfast. There has been talk going around that we are eating the same thing daily, but personally I am trying to enjoy it as much as possible because I know that once I get back to the U.S. I’m going to miss it. I also find all of the women who feed us and do our beds very endearing. We left the hotel at around 8am to make it to our tour at the Globe Theater. 

On our way we lost a couple of our friends, but we found them at our final destination which was a relief. Once there we had a tour where we got to know a little about the earlier Global Theaters and why they were no longer in existence. After the tour we walked through a gallery that displayed behind the scene details of putting on a production at the Globe including costumes. 

For a little while we thought we were going to see a combat demonstration, but were kicked off the benches because another group were priority over us. After our morning’s adventures we went to eat lunch at Borough Market. This market was filled with many food stands from places all over the world. I felt slightly overwhelmed by the options, but not enough to lose my appetite so I ended up getting a wrap that had chicken, BBQ sauce, egg, sriracha, rice, salad, onions, and mayo. For dessert I bought myself a Donut filled with a salted caramel and honey filling. It was delicious. 

Many of us headed back to the hotel which is exactly what I did, and took a very needed three hour nap. Once awake we made our way back to the Globe theater for the lecture and the play. At first, the thought of standing was a little discouraging, but luckily I was front and center, and the experience was beautiful. I loved all of the dancing that occurred especially towards the end, and I left in such an amazing mood. We talked about food and decided on having a late night snack at McDonalds. We ended our night with a little picnic at the foot of the stairs in the hotel. I look forward to more days that leave my heart wanting to dance and sing itself out like this one.

Merrymaking in the Middle

Ah, the Globe - a theater built and rebuilt by and for a somewhat well-known playwright called Mr. William Shakespeare. This purpose-built theater has stood on the banks of the Thames with a few extensive interruptions since 1599 Anno Domini, and was the center of today's adventures in London.

The early morning was spent touring the current Globe, placed down the road from the site of the original over three centuries following the destruction of Shakespeare's Globe by the Puritan government under Cromwell. That original (actually the second structure following the burning of the first in 1613) was a place where people of all classes could view plays written by Jonson, Marlowe, and, of course, the Bard himself, among others. Lords gathered in the stage-boxes, while others could stand at the foot of the stage for as little as one penny to watch plays such as the one we saw tonight, "The Merry Wives of Windsor".


In the panel preceding the performance, the work was described as a "play about the middle" because it centers around the middle class and the middle-aged. Between our morning tour and evening show, most of us experienced some more modern middle-class means of merrymaking as well, eating from the diverse stalls at Borough Market, and spending several hours in the Tate Modern.

My lunch of a corned beef ("salt beef") bagel.

Bronze cast of Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. 

Following an introductory panel of the life, times, and setting of the play, we found our "seats" at the foot of the stage, standing as "groundlings" in the middle of the Yard of the theater to watch a play that I can only describe as magical, even reimagined as it was in the setting of the 1930s rather than its original 1590s.

All in all? I can't complain about anything today being in the "middle;" in fact, the middle was the perfect place for us to be. 

The Most Magical Day

Today was a very big learning experience for me. It wasn’t about Shakespeare, or 

about theatre but about myself. Today I traveled by myself to Disneyland Paris. I was pushed out of my comfort zone. One thing you should know about me is that I hate asking for help, from anyone, but today I had to. I had to ask for directions, (hundreds of times despite my map) I had to ask for pictures, I had to ask questions to plan my day, and I had to do all of these things through a slight language barrier. Of course, most employees know some English in the park, but not all of them extremely well. I found myself struggling to explain words like wet, try, and other words we use in every day life and are so used to hearing. 

I also learned a lot about the kindness of others. I was alone the entire day, but I never felt alone. While waiting in line people would talk to me, when I sat next to people on attractions we laughed together, when I asked someone to take a photo each of the did it with a smile. Other visitors, cast members, and characters made my lone visit extremely not lonely. That’s one of the many things I love about Disney, I think it brings together the good in everyone. 

Not only was I learning about myself I was observing everything around me, more intently, and without distraction. As I looked around I noticed Disneyland is not just a park and it was not designed to be just a park. Disneyland is and experience, a fully immersive, magical, and exciting experience. It’s a whole production day in and day out of music, set, actors, choreography, costumes. Everyone has a time and a place, it is seamlessly rehearsed so you, the visitor, see it as a magical experience. I noticed most about the set. The artistry and thought behind each and everything you lay eyes on in the park is astonishing, and it is these details that often go without noticing that create the immersive magic one feels when entering the world of Disney. Each and every piece of an attraction, a restaurant, or even the path that takes you from place to place is thought out down to what the cob webs will look like on the light fixtures. Throughout the day I noticed many of these details

This is a picture of the pathway through frontier land, a land based on the old west. This is the main walking path and almost everyone goes without noticing but there are horse hoof prints lying in the cement of the path, that even though you don’t necessarily realize them, help to fully immerse you in to the old west. 

The Indiana Jones ride is set in a forbidden temple amidst the jungle. Our dear friend Mr. Jones has set up camp around the temple. The placement of this ride in the park is away from everything immersed in the forest at the edge of the park. The placement of this allows you to look around while waiting and feel exactly like you are awaiting to enter a temple in the jungle. 

The tower of terror is another attraction set in an abandoned, haunted, old Hollywood hotel. The decor you see around you as you are waiting in line is magnificent furniture, gold, and portraits, but they are torn, dusty, and covered in cob webs. You enter the service elevator in the basement of the ride and you are surrounded by rusty pipes, leaking furnaces, dim light, and more dust. These minor, often unnoticed artistic details are what are really behind the magic of Disney. 

On a side note in the midst of all my epiphanies about myself, humanity, and Disney magic I met goofy who danced with me, blew me a kiss, and tried to stop me from leaving after our time was done.

Darth Vader who convinced me to join the dark side (sorry mom),

Eeyore and Tigger who fought for my affection,

and Captain Marvel who not only invited me to join the avengers (woop woop) but also helped

me to bring out my confidence in my abilities and why I am important here (I cried but enjoy this picture of us looking like some heroes). 

A Day at the Globe

Hello everyone!

Today was yet another great & busy day for us all! We all began the day by leaving the hotel bright & early at 8 am to catch the tube. We had plans to spend most of our day at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre! By 9am we had begun our tour of the theatre; as we had already toured Stratford-upon-Avon & the Anne Hathaway Cottage, some information was a bit repetitive but most regarding the theatre was new.

We learned the Globe theatre we toured today was actually the third reconstruction of the building; the first burnt down in 1614 & the second was taken down in 1644. It wasn’t until 1970 that plans were underway for the reconstruction of the third globe, which didn’t open until 1997! The thatched roof (the only one still in existence in London) is open to the sky, so one must hope the weather cooperates for each show!

After touring the theatre, we walked to Borough market. It was a space absolutely filled to the brim with the largest variety of food I had ever seen. We spent some time grabbing lunch there and tried not to lose one another within the large crowds!

Tonight we will be returning to the Globe to see The Merry Wives of Windsor. This show will be different for all of us, as we will be considered “groundlings.” This term is used because we will be standing on the ground in front of the stage for the entire duration of the show. In Shakespeare’s time, these spots were for poor individuals who could not afford to pay for the luxury of having a seat. It should be a new & exciting experience for us all; I sure hope it doesn’t rain on us!

I can’t wait to continue exploring London for another week!