Sorry it has taken two weeks to post this but I was having trouble with the blog site and picasa which would not let me upload anymore image; however, that has all been taken care of and here we go! This year because I am moving out of my flat and had to start packing up everything I could not host the Thanksgiving Dinner at my flat so I took everyone out to Bodean's, a BBQ restaurant that does Thanksgiving dinners here in London. We had the 5 -7pm sitting and had a great meal and fun time. This was also the night before the semester officially ended so it was a nice break from packing up the students' flats and writing final papers!
We had a choice of Caesar salad, clam chowder or chowda as we say in Rhode Island, and quesadillas. Roast turkey, ham, potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, etc.
Dessert was a choice of apple crumble or pumpkin pie. I went for the pie!
As mentioned above the last week involved writing lots of papers, packing up the flats, and for the students in the Acting the British Approach class a final showcase which was held at Rose Bruford on Tuesday. They performed selections from the play Us and Them which pointed out how the British see Americans and how Americans see the British. It was very funny and students did a fantastic job. Many of the Rose Bruford students attended and then we all went to eat at The Black Horse pub in Sidcup after the show.
Here is Tony and the acting students.
Our students with their friends from Rose Bruford at the Black Horse.
Katie and a humongous ice cream sundae!
During the last week of classes I took Julie and John to Superhire which is one of the few gigantic prop houses in London that cater to the theatre and film industry. After touring a few floors of period furniture, we went into the section where there are a great amount of props. Here are some photos of a few of the sections.
A statue of Hamlet.
Lord Diomandes on one of his thrones.
DUBLIN AND GALWAY:
At the end of our London semester eight of the students and myself went to Ireland for two weeks where the students studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. The studied and did scenes and monologues by four Irish Playwrights: Samuel Beckett, Brian Friel, Sean O'Casey, and John M. Synge. For their seminar class they had Gerry Dukes who was personal friends with Beckett. Helena did voice classes with them and Patrick Sutton and Martin McGuire did the two acting classes. The first week involved a tour of Dublin, taking in other cultural visits and a few plays. We went to the Peacock Theatre to see Quietly, a new play about Northern Ireland which was excellent. Tender Napalm was at the Project Theatre, Iscariot written by Patrick Sutton was at Smock Alley Theatre and the panto, Cinderella at the Gaiety Theatre. The students, except for Alex Akers, loved the panto and got into it and had a lot of fun! During the weekend I took the students to Galway. Some of us at at McDonah's which is know for its fish and chips. Julie and I had fish and chips.
Katie had sausage and chips! At a fish place no less.....
Alex had fried chicken and chips!
We also took in the Christmas Market in Eyre Square. Merry- Go - Round rides, little puppies, zebra burgers, and crazy hats! Julie did a daytrip to the Cliffs of Moher.
Back at the Gaiety School we got to sit in on a session on Friday with Michael Fassbender. He was a student of one of the Gaiety tutors. He spoke with the students and then worked some scenes with some of the students. Very down to earth and nice guy with some great advice!
Michael Fassbender's motorcycle. He arrived a half hour late!
Also on Friday our students presented there showcase of all the scenes and monologues that they had been rehearsing for the past two weeks. The were the first outside group to perform in The Smock Alley Theatre. This is the theatre that was from the 1600's that was discovered in the basement of a church and where David Garrick and many other famous actor's performed. Patrick raised the funds to renovate the space and it turned into an amazing performance space. Here are some photos of the theatre and a rehearsal of the scenes and monologues.
Matin wove together three funeral scenes from three plays by O'Casey and Synge. Brian played the dead body in every scene.....
Various Valdimirs and Estragons in
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.
Come and Go by Beckett
A Piece of Monologue by Beckett
Katie and Julie in
Not I by Beckett
Dancing at Lughnisa by Brian Friel
Kristain and Patrick after the show
The group with Patrick and Martin in Smock Alley
Until next year! Unless I put up some Christmas Images next week...
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
