In which I See Paris

I would say Paris was overall a great success. Our hostel was expensive, but we had our own bathroom, and no crazy roommates, plus there was free wifi.

We started our day nice and early Tuesday morning by hopping on the metro and going straight to the Arc de Triomphe, walking all the way around it to get to what we thought was the Champs Elysees, ending up on the wrong side and walking around it again to get to the Champs Elysees! Since it was only about 10 am, the streets weren't packed with tourists yet, and the weather was sunny with a light breeze, which made walking very nice. We walked all the way to Place de la Concorde, where King Louis XVI was put on the guillotine, the revolution was fought, and the german army set up camp in WWII, among other things. Not that big a deal.

We made our way past Place de la Concorde, and had to stop in at a pastry shop attached to a nice hotel where we swore to return to and stay at some point in the future. Further on down the road we ran into the Louvre. Because we were only in Paris for two days, we opted out of going inside, but took some pictures and hung out around the area, which is quite large, for a good amount of time. Once we started looking for a metro, we realized how big the Louvre is- it spans an entire block! We walked all the way from one end to another to get to the metro we needed, and finally, it took us to the Jardin du Luxembourg, a large public park that surrounds the Paris Senate. My favorite part of it is the statues of past queens and famous women of France, which line the center of the park.

On our way to get sandwiches, we ran across the illusive Pantheon, which we had tried to get to the previous day to no avail. I was pretty happy, since the Pantheon was my favorite part of Paris the last time I was there. We sucked it up and paid 5 euros, and spent an hour or so looking at the giant paintings on the walls, memorials to martyrs of the revolution, and the crypt below which houses famous philosophers and writers such as Victor Hugo, Jean Jacques Rousso, and John Paul Sartre.

After a siesta back at the hostel, we went over to the Eiffel Tower to meet my friends from BADA who were in paris as well; Jimmy, Lila, and Martin! We went to a grocery store nearby and cheese, baguettes, smoked salmon, some cheap rose, and chocolate mousse. Once we sat down to eat, it started raining, so we took shelter in a memorial that overlooked the tower, which was actually my favorite part of the day.

Took the metro over to where our friend Louisa was celebrating her birthday, got bullied into buying really expensive orangina and water by the waiter, but had a good time seeing my friends again. Soon after, Julie and I called it a night and went back to the hostel for our final night in Paris!

In Which I Parlez Francais

Hello from The Village Hostel in Montmarte, Paris!

Had a great last night at BADA- dancing, food, and merriment all around. Woke up at the ungodly hour of 8 am to finish packing up my room. Met up with my family and got on the road at 9 am, making our way to the motherland-Wales. I fell asleep the way there, and woke up on the road somewhere in the Welsh hills surrounded by sheep.

We stopped in Welshpool, and continued on to Llanerfyl, the tiny town my great-great grandparents are buried in, and made bricks. It was really special going to the church they attended (parts of it are from 400 AD!), and seeing their graves. Anne Bourne's (my g-g-grandmother) said:

Life's race well run

Life's crown well won

Life's work well done

Now comes rest.

We saw the house they lived in, and across the street there were bits of bricks every where that they had made!

Drove the long drive back to London, and got into our teeny tiny hotel room, where we slept for a few hours before leaving in the morning for....

Paris!

Julie and I got on the train (I had to chug my coffee very quickly since they didn't allow it past customs), and made our way into Paris, where we got our metro tickets and to our hostel without much more than a hitch. went to the Notre Dame, then went back and took a great nap. Woke up, took in Montmarte, and walked all the way to the opera house.

Tomorrow is a big day! We don't have long to get to every thing!

In Which I Say Goodbye and Hello

This is the last day of BADA! Tomorrow I leave for Wales with my family, who got into town today and got to see my final scene showings.

Wednesday Alan Rickman came and visited! I was pretty excited about it, to say the least. My favorite thing about him was how he stressed the importance of being a full and complete person when it comes to acting. When asked about his process, he said that it has much more to do with who he is as a person vs. him being an acting machine. Alan trained at RADA, and when asked about what he learned during his training years, he said that training includes being a person... staying informed in the world, reading good books, developing tastes. Essentially, putting something yourself into the world to get something out of it. He also said, "you can take no credit for your talent or you imagination. They were just put there with your arms and legs. You need to cultivate them so that they can thrive". It reminded me immediately of 1st Corinthians 1:31!

Thursday we had another amazing guest (or rather, guests). John Barton came back, this time with Jane Lapotaire. The two worked together in the series John Barton made, Playing Shakespeare, where he worked with Judi Dench, Ian McKellan, and other members of the Royal Shakespeare Compnay, including Jane. Jane was given five chorus pieces she had never worked on before, and John taught her while we watched. It was really great to see a seasoned veteran actor going through the same things young actors do... she even said to John Barton, "I feel in some way I'm not doing what you want me to do"! She was beautiful and incredible, and I thought it was really brave of her to go up in front of a bunch of young people and be directed in front of them.

Last scenes went well! I especially enjoyed my Richard III scene. We started the morning with a program-wide warm up in the pouring rain, which was actually quite nice. I've been on facebook and seen every one's statuses about heading back to Dallas, and I'm jealous! After being in a dorm at the top of a tower for a month, and gone for the whole summer, it would be really nice to be in my apartment with my old friends. But, not yet! Tonight is the final fancy dinner and dance, and I'll be so sad to say goodbye to my friends here! The good news is though, almost any where I go in the country I'll have someone to stay with, which I will be taking advantage of asap.

In other news, I've just started reading The Road, by Cormac McCarthy at the behest of many people, and it is incredible. I really suggest you pick it up and read it at your earliest convenience.

As I said, tomorrow we leave for Wales! I'll probably be exhausted, but we have a long drive to sleep through. After that, Julie and I will rendezvous over to Paris for a few days and set that town on fire. Then, Spain! I'll keep updating this, so keep coming back!

In Which Friends from my Life Before Visit Me

Had a great weekend! My friend Sten stopped by Oxford for a few days, and I had a great time showing him and his friend Nathan around.

Friday night was the BADA Talent Show, and gosh, every one was so talented! I found two more girls that can do the "stuck in a closet" voice like me. I found this both great and slightly disappointing. After, we all made a huge exodus and trekked across town to Freud, a church that has been renovated into a restaurant/ bar.

We all woke up early Saturday morning to take a trip into Stratford Upon Avon to see the matinee of Julius Caesar. Met up with Sten and Nathan at 8 am at the train station, where we were told that the information was wrong and that it would take 3 hours and 20 pounds to get to Stratford. So we scrapped the train idea and went to the bus station. We waited for the bus that would take us there for about an hour before being told that the information posted was wrong, AGAIN. We finally got a bus into Chipping Norton, a tiny little town where we could catch a transfer to Stratford, which we found out was in 3 hours. We ended up just taking a cab, but we got 5 pound tickets for the show, so it was an alright trade off.

Julius Caesar was pretty good! Probably the best use of projections I have seen on stage. The Marc Antony was excellent, and I liked the idea of using a young man to play Brutus and an older one to play Antony, in terms of dynamic. Got back into Oxford, and ate some Thai, then went over to The Eagle and Child (where CS Lewis and Tolkien had their philosophical talks) since they had never been before, and called it a night.

Sunday I gave Sten and Nathan a tour of Oxford! The highlight was definitely Will and Lyra's bench in the Botanical Gardens. It was very pictaresque; the bells from Magdelen college were ringing the whole time since it was a Sunday, and the sun was shining. Had a Q and A session with Deborah Warner, a female director who started her own theatre company in London after graduation, and then went on to direct with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and on broadway. She’s done a lot with Fiona Shaw (Medea, Happy Days, Mother Courage), and I found it really inspiring to listen to her. I especially liked her story of a Beckett play she did that got shut down because of the blocking she put in.

After our lovely Q and A, met up with Sten and Nathan once again and the three of us plus Jimmy went to Nanzo for dinner. Apparently there is only one Nanzo in the USA, which Jimmy had been to, and every one there kept shaking his hand. We all then huddled up in the tv room with a bunch of people to watch The Room, the worst movie literally EVER made. I thoroughly recommend it if you want a good laugh.

In Which I Meet Great People

What a week it has been! Some of this I've already talked about, but oh wells!

We've had some amazing speakers the past few days. David Leveaux was absolutely incredible, and a really nice guy. He worked extensively with Harold Pinter while he was alive, and gave a lot of good advice on our Pinter scenes, as well as how far background stories can really only go. It is easy to get bogged down by what ahs happened to your character before they cam onstage, and in some ways knowing all that is helpful, but at the end of the day what matters in what is happening on stage at that moment, in the present-tense. some favorites quotes of his:

"The only reason you're all here is because you ignored someone's very good advice" > on choosing a career in the theatre

" Don't be afraid of strangeness. Theatre turns the conservative, normal and complacent on its' head".

That night BADA had its' punting and dancing night, where every one eats a nice dinner and goes punting on the Thames. Mary, Alex, Alex and I invited our movement and voice teachers Jackie and Linda on our boat with us, and we had a grand old time! After a great meal, we all danced the night away, despite a rather obnoxious dj who kept interrupting the songs to shout "BADA, 2010!" into the mike.

Woke up bright and early the next morning to take the bus into London! We snagged some great student tickets to The Old Vick's As You Like It, directed by Sam Mendes. It was a GREAT production. Ate some traditional fish and chips in a pub, and saw Habit of Art that night. I'm hoping to see Julius Caesar on Saturday!

Last night Henri Goodman did a masterclass with us. He won an Olivier for his performance as Shylock in Merchant of Venice, and was the original Roy Cohn in Angels in America. I can't imagine him being such cold characters- he was so warm! He had a ton of energy, and did a good job of keeping every one engaged and involved in the scenes we worked on.

My friend Jimmy and I have been doing mash-ups of songs... essentially, completely unalike songs that sounds great together. There will probably be a video to share fairly soon. We are quite a hit amongst the kids, if I do say so myself.

The coolest thing so far was probably doing a sonnet workshop with John Barton. He's really written the book on performing Shakespeare in the past 50 yrs, and I felt honored to be listening to him. A favorite quote...

"'They look into the beauty of thy mind?.... Now, THY mind is a bit of a problem". > on sonnet 69 and it being performed.

Some other good quotes from the week:

"You're wearing tights, shirtless. With a body of death." > on the importance of standing up straight onstage.

"Smile! You're playing an attidude! Just smile! What is the matter with you?!" > Joe Mydell on acting on the line.

In Which I get to the point

Pretty hectic week, with limited wifi! HIghlights from this week:

Going the The Eagle and Child, the pub where Tolkien, TS Eliott and CS Lewis met to have their philosophical discussions. The Lorca crew went together, and we had a good time making up songs on the way back.

Choosing to get a cheeseburger instead of going clubbing and met a girl in my program who was at the same All State Choir festival as me my junior year!

PLaying koosh ( a small rubber ball that you keep in the air) on the lawn, being told that that was a "ball game", which are not allowed, and using a seed pod to keep in the air instead.

Workshop with Fiona Shaw on Wednesday. She was so great!! I have an incredible exersize to do when working on scenes now.

Playing make-believe games in movement with my group. Lots of being the earth, being air, stuff like that. Then we skip around to music and freeze when the music turns off. Its' like a day at pre-school that is super applicable to theatre! Next week we start learning period dances! I'll be pretending I am in a Jane Austen movie for sure.

Evening festivities on Friday for the program. Went punting on the Thames with my movement and voice teachers, had a delicious dinner, then danced to some good 70s' music.

Woke up early Saturday morning and took the bus into London, where we saw As You Like It at the Old Vick, directed by sam Mendes. It was amazing! The actress who played Rosalind won an Obie for her performance, and the cast was a combination of english and american actors. After that we saw The Habit of Art, a new Alan Bennet play at The National Theatre. It was really funny, and reminded me of Noises Off.

Sunday: In which I eat a burger

SUNDAY

Sunday morning I was tired out by the past two nights, so I kept hitting “off” on my alarm until about 11:30, which annoyed me since I actually needed to get a lot of work done. Met with my scene partner again for lunch at Morton’s sandwiches and a rehearsal. We are doing the Richard/ Anne (Act I.ii) scene from Richard III, a really good scene that I’m pretty excited about.

While I was walking around campus I ran into some students playing koosh (a keep-in-the-air game with a small bouncy elastic ball) . This kept us entertained for awhile, and some kids and their parents even came to play with us for a bit. We ended the game when it was time for our Q and A session with Kelly Hunter and Greg Hix, the actors from the RSC who played Leontes and Hermione in the production we saw the night before. They gave some really good advice and insight into their work and Shakespeare’s plays. My favorite was when they talked about a child actor in the company who was so good at first, until he became embarrassed by his imagination. A lot of adult actors try so hard to get back to the ease that imagination comes to kids, and it was a good reminder to strive towards that.

Got dinner at a burger place nearby with my modern scene partner, Louisa, where we chatted and discussed our scene, New World Order by Harold Pinter. After that I took a walk around Oxford where I ran into Victoria and a few other people. We explored around Christ’s Church and played Pooh Sticks on a bridge.

Another rehearsal with Chris, and memorization before bed!