Our First Week in London

BIG BEN

Cheers!

Welcome to this year's London blog. I will be blogging and posting photos throughout the semester. If you subscribe to the blog you will be notified when I post something. The students arrived on Saturday Sept 5th. Most flew from Minneapolis and a couple came from Chicago. I met them at the flats on Auriol Road around 2 pm. They settled into their rooms and then I took them grocery shopping and on a walking tour of the neighborhood. In an attempt to keep them awake I then took them into Central London, and we toured the theatre district and had dinner at Pollo and great, cheap Italian restaurant.


Rachel, Taryn, Lindsay, and Sam at the Minneapolis airport



Taryn, Lindsay, Sam, and Ben outside the flats



Sitting in the living room of the guys flat waiting to start a short meeting




Sam and Krista at the Baron's Court Tube stop near the student flats.

The boys attempting to do grocery shopping. Andy looks so confused!

On the neighborhood walking tour we found tennis courts in a park where Andy, Steve, and Dave have played tennis a number of times this week.

The theatre majors are producing a play, Vanities, at Tara Arts studio October 13 -17. We began rehearsals this week at The Drill Hall rehearsal studios. In addition to Sam and Krista performing, Jo McCarthy a 2007 graduate of Rose Bruford American Theatre Arts program has joined the cast. She had the opportunity to study playwrighting with Jack Heifner, the playwright who wrote Vanities. It has been exciting working with Jo. Lindsay is stage managing ane Ben is designing the lights for the production. Some of the non-majors will also be helping out with the production. We got all of act one blocked and will be starting on act 2 this afternoon.

Krista and Jo during a read through of Vanities

Sam and Krista blocking act one.

Sam and Krista at the readthrough and tablework rehearsal.

Gary, Krista, and Sam returning home after rehearsal with the leftovers from Pizza Express.

Classes began on Monday. Mondays the students have Theatre in London and Page to Stage. On Tuesdays we all go out to Rose Bruford College in Sidcup for a Global Issues class in the morning and an Acting the British Approach class in the afternoon. This is one of our chances to meet British students. Some of them will be attending Saint Mary's next year. I teach two classes on Tuesday to Rose Bruford students. Also on Tuesday afternoons some of the students will return to London for their International Management class. Wednesday morning is Contemporary British Writers. Thursday morning is Art in London and in the afternoon it is British Politics. Friday is set aside for our day trips. This week we went to Cambridge. It was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful, we had an excellent tour guide, Catherine Sharp, and we went punting. We had a tour of Cambridge in the morning, had lunch, and then went punting before heading back to London. See photos below....at the end of the blog are two videos of us punting!

On Monday night we went to the Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's As You Like It. We got there early so we could get right up front and lean on the stage seeing that we were groundlings and had to stand for 3 hours. It was worth it!!!! Great performance.

The Globe Theatre

Dave, Gary, and Ben waiting for the show to begin.

Steve, Matt, Lindsay, Sam, and Taryn, the Groundlings!

On Tuesdays we take a train out to Sidcup for classes at Rose Bruford. It is about a half hour train ride each way.

Waiting at the train station in Sidcup to return to London

Gary letting Steve know that the train is coming!!!! Yeah, right!



The following are photos from the Cambridge trip.

Steve doing his "homework" on the coach at 8:30 am on the way to Cambridge.

Punt boats

More boats!

Andy getting instructions on how to punt!

The girls taking a punting tour down the Cam River.

Andy taking the boys down the river...will they survive?

Dave, Robert, and I also took a tour....

The Cam River!

A number of us had lunch at The Eagle...the most famous pub in Cambridge.

Pink Floyd played at The Anchor when they first started out!

Catherine giving us an hour and a half tour of Cambridge on Friday morning.

Outside of King's College. We took a tour of the inside as well. Magnificent!

Andy paying attention as usual!!!!


After returning to London from Cambridge some of us went to go see Avenue Q in the West End.

On Saturday the Page to Stage class attended Mother Courage and Her Children at the National Theatre. The play was translated by Tony Kushner and starred Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter's Aunt in the films). Our guest was David Mowbray, my former student from Rose Bruford. The show was fantastic and very, very Brechtian.

Sam, Dave, Krista and I went to see Avenue Q. Lots of laughs!

This weekend was also the Thames Festival on the South Bank. As part of the festivities the National Theatre was sponsoring some outdoor performances in the outside courtyard of the theatre.

Krista, Sam, Dave Mowbray after the performance. Fireworks in the background.

Lindsay,Ben, Krista, Sam and Dave Mowbray on the Terrace after the show. London Eye in the background.

Mother Courage and all her children!!!1

Rachel says don't be afraid to comment on the blog....Looking forward to your responses!!!!

Click on the two short videos below to watch us punting....

Ben is stirring the boat below. The bridge blocks him....oh, well.