Welcome to part of our first week in London. The students arrived on last Friday, and I met them at a cafe across from the Edgware Road Tube Station.
The first to arrive was Darren whose flight was cancelled on Wednesday. He was supposed to arrive on Thursday. He was there waiting for me really early in the morning. So we had coffee and pastries before the next arrival which was Taylor.
The two of them were excited but knew that they had to stay awake until bedtime and fight jet lag. So we had more coffee!
Jake who actually got to London late Thursday night was the next to arrive around 1 pm. He was pretty well rested!!! But we had more coffee!!!!
Taylor, Diana, and Victoria arrived from Minnesota a little after
3 pm.
As the others went to the flats I waited for the next group. Gigi, Ian, and Celeste. Later Andrew showed up from Gatwick. We brought all of them to the flat where they had an orientation meeting with the company from whom we rent the flats.
Andrew in the flat.
Some of the students were hungry and went back to the cafe to eat something while I went back to the tube station to wait for our last two arrivals from California. They showed up a little after 5:30 pm.
Zach with his bags arriving.
Courtney and he travelled together from California. We then went to the flats to drop off luggage.
The students live off Edgware Road, actually across the way from where our students lived for years when we first started the program. For those alums who lived in the neighborhood we are across from the old Victory Pub which is being converted into a Pizza Parlor. I then took the students on a walking tour of the neighborhood. Tesco Supermarket, Oxford St. where the main Primark store is located, Church Street where they have an open street market, and to The Cockpit Theatre where we will be rehearsing our play, The Amish Project which opens Oct 5 - 8th at the New Wimbledon Studio Theatre.
Outside Tesco, their grocery store. There is also a Waitrose below where the flats.
I left them to settle in, unpack, go grocery shopping and roam around to stay awake.
On Saturday, the next day, I did a partial walking tour of Central London. We took the Underground (subway or tube as it is called) to Westminster where I pointed out Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben and Parliament.
The group with the London Eye in the background.
We walked along part of the Southbank and crossed the Thames River and went over to Embankment where we stopped at Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, and Saint Martin of the Fields Church where we went into the Crypt (my favorite get-a-way place in Central London) where I bought everyone tea, coffee, and other beverages. After resting for awhile we continued our journey to Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Soho, and Covent Garden where I pointed out some of the theatre we would be attending and the Pineapple Dance studio where some students will be taking dance classes.
After the tour we went to one of my favorite, cheap Italian Restaurants at the edge of Soho. The Pollo Bar...it never disappoints!!!!
Several students got the giant calzones.
My Carbonara!
Members of the clean plate club!
After dinner everyone went off on their own. Taylor, Zach, and I went to go see Breakfast at Tiffany's which is closing soon which it should do. It was God Awful!!!!! Pixie Lott starred in it and butchered Moon River!!!!
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Our classes normally begin on Monday, but last Monday was a Bank Holiday where a good number of stores and places are closed including out classroom, so I held my Theatre in London Class and Page to Stage Class on Sunday in our new classroom space at St. Paul Center in Hammersmith across from the tube station. It is across the street from where our classroom was last year. The students did presentations on the Globe Theatre and the play, Macbeth, that we were going to see on Monday night.
The classroom space.
Students arriving to class!
On Monday morning Jonathan Kennedy, who is the Executive Director of Tara Arts gave a seminar to four of the students who are doing presentations next week on British Music Hall, Panomimes, and Farce and in a few weeks on Fringe Theatre. He then went with us on a continuation of our walking tour where we walked the rest of the South Bank to the National Theatre and later to the Globe Theatre where we were going to see Macbeth.
In the summer they build a giant sandbox along the South Bank.
The skate park is still in existence. A developer wanted to knock it down but the skaters and the public fought it and won so it will continue to be there! Graffiti is always changing.
A view of London Eye from Royal Festival Hall
These are some of the book stalls that are always outside the National Film Institute, which has its own wonderful bookstore and cinema.
We went into the National Theatre to their bookstore to buy plays for the Page to Stage and Acting III class. Outside the theatre there bands playing and people being taught how to ballroom dance!!! I let the students wander for a couple of hours and have lunch before we met up again and walked to the Globe Theatre.
People doing sand sculptures along the Thames
The Millennial Bridge that was seen being blown up in Harry Potter movie!!! It is across from the Tate Modern Museum which is next to the Globe Theatre
The Globe. We arrived at the Globe around 4:15 or so and immediately got in line for the 7:30 production of Macbeth. I have learned over the years it is worth getting there early and being the first in line so that when they open the doors we can rush the stage and be right in front which allows us to lean on the stage during the show. You see, we get 5 pound standing room tickets for the yard, or pit as it is called. Just like the groundlings in Shakespeare's day. we have to stand for three hours so being able to lean on the stage is a relief!
A take off of the London Tube map with Shakespeare references!
Taylor is camera shy! It is also an opportunity for students to catch up on readings for classes, eating, and in Zach's case knitting!
They had these birch trees in the Yard with steel leaves on them.
Here is the gate that leads to the Yard and the pit where we had to line up. The gate is covered with all the animals that are mentioned in Shakespeare's plays.
The new Globe was constructed by using the same materials that were used in the original. Notice there are no nails but wooden pegs. The American actor, Sam Wanamaker was the impetus behind building the new Globe. He was shocked that England did not have a Globe Theatre so it was his life ambition to build it. Unfortunately he died before he saw it completed.
The play we saw was Macbeth. All I can say was that it was incredible.
Lady Macbeth was played by the actress who was Stannis's wife in The Game of Thrones.
While waiting in line, Courtney and Darren decided to put a hat out and sing to see if they could make any money. The hat is empty!!! Need I say more!
Emma Rice is the new Artistic Director of the Globe; she is also the first woman to be appointed to this position. One thing that she has done is introduce stage lighting to the productions. In the past there was just natural light or at night the lighting just made it look like daytime. There was no fancy stage lights or special lighting. This production had LED lights, strobe lights, color lighting, etc.
These grate covered columns had lights in them and changed colors throughout the production.
Curtain call dance!!!
On Tuesday we had our first readthrough of The Amish Project which went extremely well. We also did some fantastic table work analyzing the play and characters. We are off to a great start and all are really excited about the production! Students went to the Tate Britain Museum today with Becky after we went to Wimbledon to take a look at the theatre, had their British Literature class yesterday with Adrian, and will have Global Issues with Steve and British Politics with Dave tomorrow. Friday is our first day trip to Cambridge! Pray for good weather which up to this point has been fantastic! More pictures in the next blog!
Students in front of the stage at the Globe!
THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!!
(It is now 3 am when I am posting this)
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