A Semester in London: London 2011: Week Three

Week three began with a trip to the Drury Lane Theatre which is the oldest theatre in London. The backstage tour is given by two actors who portray a variety of characters. This was part of the Theatre in London class dealing with the topic of West End theatre. The musical, Shrek, is currently playing there.

Those students from past years will recognize the actor we named "Drury Lane". He is back!!!! However, he is playing different roles.

The Queen's reception area behind her royal box!

All the gilding is pure gold!

We were told about the tunnels that led to the theatre from the river and also up to the Strand where Nell Gwynne,s mother ran a pub/brothel. Nell was one of the first actresses on the British stage; she also sold oranges outside the theatre and was the mistress of King Charles II. Between acts of shows they would use the tunnel to go to her mother's pub!

The pub on the Strand!

On Monday Evening we went to St. Kathrine's dock to a warehouse/office building near Tower Bridge to see the National Theatre's production of Decade directed by Rupert Goold...my new favorite director in London.

The play is a compilation of 20 short plays written by twenty different playwrites all dealing with the tragedy of 9/11. The office space was converted into the Windows of the World restaurant that was in the Twin Towers. Before entering the theatre space we had to go through a security check (ala the airport). I was asked alot of questions including, "Are you a patriot?" Of course, I answered "Yes". They then let me into the space. We were greeted by a hostess and waiters and wattresses. Menus were on our table and the bar was open. Once the play began the entire room was used including the bank of windows above us. Very dramatic and effective. Actors also stood on top of our tables. A very emotional evening.

The Art in London class this week went to the Duliwich Picture Gallery.

On Friday we went to Blenheim Palace and we had a gorgeous day weather-wise. We requested that we get Dave as our bus driver again and they granted our wish. He is awesome! In fact after Blenheim he drove us to Earlsfield where we went to a performance at Tara Theatre. We saw a one man show entitled Bosom Buddies. The actor, Jack Klaff, portrayed 26 characters from Jackie Onassis to Albert Einstein to Gandhi....The show was just OK and went on too long.

We had an 11;15 tour of the inside of the Palace. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside. Unfortunately for me I left my camera in the men's room and never got it back! So the following photos of Blenheim are all taken by the students. After touring the Palace, where Winston Churchill was born, everyone wandered the grounds of the property and went out to the Pleasure Gardens, the Secret Garden, and the lake. We had beautiful weather to enjoy the day!

The ceiling of the outdoor entryway.

Chris and Sarah

After touring the Palace and some of the property, we took a train to The Pleasure Gardens which has outdoor games, a jungle gym, a hedge Maze, and a Butterfly House.