London Last Days

My last blog post...Hmm...who knows if I will ever use this blog again. Only time will tell. Haha. Anyway, the trip officially ended two days ago, when we got back to Charlotte around 2pm. But before getting there, we'll start back on Saturday. On Saturday I basically didn't do too much other than give my presentation and get the last bit of souvenirs I needed to pick up. After that I waited around until we would go see As You Like It. I was curious for it, because my mom had been super excited from the moment that she heard that we would be reading and seeing it. Part of the reason I picked it for my presentation topic. It turned out to be really fun. When I say it was fun, it is because of how the play is in general. Unlike the other plays, where you are just waiting for the plot points to happen, this one's plot lacks enough that you just watch for the fun of watching. It was a bit of a musical as well as there was a lot of singing. We joked later about it being "Boone: The Play" because the outfits were very...Boone. Kaitlyn and I were both talking about who got to have the guys who played Orlando and Amiens because they were very attractive men. Pippa Nixon as Rosalind was VERY good. I was happy they did not make her look super girly despite her posing as a guy. I like the clothes they gave her to wear as Ganymede. They really worked well for the play. My play preferences are ranked thus:

First: The Tempest (because it was my first and made an impression, not because it was the best play of all)

Second: Titus Andronicus (because it was AWESOME!)

Third: The Alchemist (because the main actor was AMAZING)

Fourth: As You Like It (because it was fun)

Fifth: Macbeth at the Globe

Sixth: Macbeth at the Rose

That night we all just stuck around the bar lounge as it was cooler than our rooms were by far. Lorin managed to pry the windows open in our room, but that didn't do much. It was really nice to just sit and talk with some of the others down in the lounge.

The next day around noon we travelled to a hotel at Heathrow. A television and air conditioning were nice to have. But sadly, no free wifi. The rates were terrible as well. So, none of us bothered to pay for it. After having lunch at a pub that was really good and had REALLY large food portions, we went back to the hotel and most of us worked on our last play review. You can find that below.

Michael found wifi at a bowling alley right next door so we ended up going there to get our internet needs finished. It was only 50 pence to get in. After that we then rented a lane for 2 hours. Michael beat everyone, though Lorin was just behind. Kaitlyn finished last with a spectacular show and great sportsmanship. Katie and I tied for second to last, lol. Mid-way through playing the lane broke and we had to switch.

It was a rather uneventful time after that was we got back to the hotel around 8:30ish after snagging dinner (for me that consisted of an apple pie and a Smarties milkshake, lol) at the bowling alley. With minor interesting events and television, we spent the night in our hotel rooms.

The next day was just tiring as we got up early to get to the airport, but things went relatively swiftly for me. For one, I didn't know my second bag could pass as a carry on and my backpack as my personal item. Katie informed me of that, despite the fact that the woman walking around claimed it was too big. I would have had to spend $100 dollars. I was like...no. Not happening. That woman was just trying to wrangle money out of me as the lady who took my checked bag said it was fine for carry on and no one stopped me and said it was too big. It was just taller were most people's were wider. The security people held back three people in our group for longer bag inspections for keeping ipads/nooks in their bags. I find that kind of silly, but I don't understand that so whatever. When Kaitlyn and I were passing the last part of security the guy asked to swab down Kaitlyn's bags and when I stopped to let him do it he was just like "go ahead". 

They just wanted me out of their country, hehe.

On the plane ride back, I watched movies for the most part. I watched Jack the Giant Slayer, The Descendants, and Rio. We touched down after I started watching an episode of Lie to Me. We said our goodbyes at the luggage area, at least most of us did. What was funny though, is that we saw a lot of our group off to the parking area as well.

So, the trip was fun and now I have to adjust to not being around everyone anymore or getting up in the morning for the purpose of learning. Its back to working and buying groceries and missing people who are home for the summer as I am here in Boone for quite a while now. So, as I have no pictures to end this blog, I leave you with the edited video of the Changing of the Guard which I was finally able to make. It's nothing special as I just added a few titles and just strung things together, but it was cool to witness. Well...see, ya'll.

Titus Andronicus Review

After reading Titus Andronicus, I was sure the play was going to be too much blood and gore. With all the barbarous things going on in the play, it required frequent breaks when I was reading. Now, after watching the play presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the play. There was so much comedy presented on stage that I had never registered while reading the play. Many scenes were incredibly effective due to the director’s creative changes and the musical timing.

First of all, I never expected the representation of Saturnius to be so humorous. When reading the play, he just seemed like a normal, relatively angry man. During the play, he was a bit of a fool and quite over the top. His lines were humorous in places that I had not expected. The greatest example was in Act 2, Sc. 3, lines 249 and 250. “Say, who are thou that lately didst descend into this gaping hollow of the earth?” when read does not sound amusing. But when said hesitantly, more like “Say…who are thou that lately didst descend into this…gaping…hollow…of the earth?” I found his presentation of thinking of what possibly to say to be quite funny.

Other instances of comedy were found in Titus himself. As he slowly appeared to become crazy, he became more and more amusing. It started, for me, with Act 3, Sc. 1 when he received his sons’ heads and began to listen to their heads that appear to communicate with him (lines 276-280). Another scene with a fair bit of humor was from Act 5, Sc. 2, where Tamora comes to Titus as Revenge with her sons in tow. Their act is made incredibly funny due to Demetrius and Chiron who spin around and moan like ghosts while the entire time Titus acts like a crazy person on purpose. The scene struck me because that was exactly how I had imagined it would go. The most humorous scene to me, as well as the strangest, was the banquet where Titus feeds the Demetrius and Chiron pie to those in attendance. First of all, he came out dressed in a maid outfit with a wig on, which was hilarious. Then the entire butchering scene was just funny chaos the entire time. Everyone was attacking everyone and basically everyone on stage got stabbed, whether or not they died from it. Lucius’s monologue was made so much funnier because of it. In Act 5, Sc. 3, lines 149-154, he is addressing a group of people saying “Thanks, gentle Romans” and “gentle people”, but everyone in the room but is uncle is dead. It was terrible to laugh at, but it was hard to resist.

I was very appreciative of the creative ideas and interpretations the director of the play put in. His decision to present Demetrius and Chiron so young, as just teenagers, was a wonderful idea and made a lot of sense. Aaron is the evident villain throughout the play as he instigates and initiates the early plot of the rape of Lavinia and the death of Bassianus that leads to the problems throughout the rest of the play. With the two sons of Tamora being so young, it makes more sense that Aaron was able to easily persuade them to do something as heinous as raping and mutilating Lavinia. If they had been older, one would think they would have shown some reserve. Also, in a strange twist, it can make one feel like they could almost be let off the hook a bit and all the blame can lie with Aaron for giving birth to the plan.

Something that was not in Shakespeare’s writing, but that the director put into the play to make it more interesting was the initiation of Lucius into the Goth’s nation. It happened very quickly, him coming to them and then being initiated, but that made it so much cooler. The scene was choreographed very well as far as timing is concerned. It was so riveting with the tribal music playing. It was a really great moment when they turned Lucius around to brand him and the lights and music all cut when one was expecting to hear his scream from pain. It sent such chills through me that I was so upset that intermission was occurring.

The greatest scene of the entire play came at the end. The director had already chosen to swap around Aaron and Lucius’s speeches from Act 5, Sc. 3. The decision was incredible and truly brought home the idea the play presents of things not changing. The concept that the cycle of death will only continue was clearly sent as Aaron states in lines 191 and 192, “If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul” before Young Lucius comes on stage with Aaron’s child in his arms. The horrified look that crosses Aaron’s face can be felt and it shows that his words may be the death of his own child. When Young Lucius raises the cake knife before everything goes dark and the banging of the music occurs, one can feel the tension from seeing such a young boy ready to kill the baby. It was so striking and such a great interpretation from the director.

Titus Andronicus, I believe, was by far the best presented play that we saw during our stay in England. It was riveting, interesting, and very well presented. Though I expected to dislike the play for all the gore and blood and death, I walked out of the play very satisfied with what I had seen. This play, to me, shows that even the darkest plays can be fun (or funny). I truly felt like Shakespeare would have been proud of this performance of his play as I feel as if the message behind the play was shown right down to the very last second.

London Day 17

Our first night in Stratford wasn’t excessively exciting. It was fun to go out to a couple bars with Kaitlyn, Lorin, and Andrew. I have a few pictures from then that you can see. I also made a video, but Facebook was being slow about uploading it. Probably will have to wait till I get back to the states and transfer it over to the desktop.

Yesterday we had class outside by the Avon. It was really nice to watch duckies and such. Swans really are mean. One was terrorizing the other winged creatures. We visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace, which was really interesting. Though, the start of it was kind of…Well, Kaitlyn said it best by comparing it to a Disney attraction tour with the way the videos were staged. After that I went out to lunch with Katie, Kaitlyn, and Lorin. It was really good and I was kind of happy to have a salad. I’m somewhat afraid to step on a scale once I’m back in the states. Geh… We then went to New Place/Nash’s House, which was where Shakespeare lived with his family. That was great too. After that we came back and waited till it was 5pm to go out to dinner. After the dinner we then went and saw the play Titus Andronicus.

So…you want to know about the play? It was GREAT. It was very intriguing. I was kind of worried because I’m relatively squeamish when it comes to blood and gore and whatnot, but it was actually quite comedic. In a dark way. It was kind of unexpected. There were liberties taken in the play that were good. They swapped around verses and their transitions were great. Certain scenes were REALLY something. The ending was…omg…that ending…so dark…SO GOOD. It isn’t the kind of play I just want to write my opinion out in words on. There is just so much I would love to tell people about, so just feel free to ask me about it when I am back in the states and I’m not exhausted from being almost at the end of the trip and having done a presentation today.

Right, so I did my Shakespeare presentation today. We will be seeing As You Like It tonight. We have had free time for quite the amount of time today. No more official blog entries to do, which is nice. I will have to start working on a review of either Titus or the one tonight, but we’ll see after tonight.

Sorry my blogs have gotten more and more boring over time. I’m just so tired at this point and everything is just kind of coming to a close. I don’t feel much time to actually write out fun and humorous posts. Anyway, I will see if I can update tomorrow. It’ll be crazy since we go to a Heathrow hotel tomorrow before we fly out Monday morning.

Blog 12: Shakespeare Houses

From visiting Shakespeare’s Birthplace and then Nash’s House/ New Place, I have learned that Stratford was an interesting place to live. Something that I find very interesting is that Shakespeare did not move his family to London with him while he was there. Instead, he had them stay in Stratford. I found that weird and a little sad, but now after visiting these places I feel as if I would understand. London is a busy city with tons and tons of people. Even back then, more and more people came filtering into the city of London. Stratford on the other hand would not have all those crowds and all those people. It would be a decent, moderately paced place to live.

It was funny to learn that Shakespeare was married rather early in his life, due to the fact that he got Anne Hathaway pregnant. It was an odd match, according to Shakespeare: Work, Life, and Times, as she was twenty-six and he eighteen. Apparently they lived with Shakespeare’s parents in the place where he was born. No one is sure, but they believe that he worked for his father, a glove-maker, so he was able to financially support his wife and new baby girl. They lived there for quite awhile, as Shakespeare was given the home to have after the death of his parents. What struck me most was that this building had been made mostly for the convenience of usage for John Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s father, for glove-making. The door by the workroom had to be wide enough for a horse and cart (as was the hallway) and it led straight into the back of the house. The rest of the house felt like it was made around that hallway.

In comparison, it was unique to see New Place. The house felt distinctly like a home, which was nice as Shakespeare had to have it fixed up after he bought it in 1597 after being in London for almost ten years. The house was quite spacious. They say that Shakespeare penned many plays in the study there starting in 1597. No one is sure how often he stayed there, but he lived there frequently when not in London. He was probably there once the theatres closed during the 1600s. As well as the spacious house, they also had two gardens and two orchards on the premises. The knot garden was absolutely beautiful. The garden area is very extensive with a lot of plants.

Both of these places were passed down by Shakespeare to his daughter, Susanna, who was basically given everything of importance that he owned. Eventually, his daughter’s daughter Elizabeth Nash received the home. Her husband, Thomas Nash, lived in the house adjacent to New Place. Overall, I believe that living in Stratford would have been comparable to living in a nice suburban area, despite the fact that the family was quite wealthy. Because of that, they were able to live in a very nice home that Shakespeare was able to buy for his family.

London Day 15 and 16

We are now officially in Stratford-upon-Avon after a 2 hour bus ride this morning most of which I slept through. That was nice, considering I didn’t sleep so well last night. But I should probably start with yesterday.

Yesterday we went to the British Museum which was very cool. I got to take pictures of as much as I wanted really, which is great. You will get to see the pictures which will basically give you an idea of the tour. It is some place that one just has to see on their own really because there is A LOT. Highlights for me were the Korea and Japan area, the Rosetta Stone, and the Pompeii exhibit we got to go into. Sadly no pictures of the last one because the camera was dying. Today is the day that I am taking time to recharge batteries for the camera.

Then after the museum we went to the Orangery for tea. It was really, really, REALLY good. The tea was wonderful and the sandwiches and desserts were tasty. It made me really happy. I totally recommend going, but just be aware that if you have 3 people go, it is already going to be about 80 dollars. So, as we were getting ready to leave, a helicopter decided to land. And what do you know, but there is Prince Charles and Prince William with a couple other guys and a dog coming off the helicopter. People were surrounding the area like crazy.

After tea, we went to Oxford Circus and I got to do some shopping at H&M. 5 stories, four of which have women’s clothes and I was SO happy to see clothes for cheap. I got comfy cheap outfits that are cute and are my treat to myself from this trip. We had dinner in Chinatown at this really tasty place called Little Korea that served Korean and Japanese. We had Edamame and yakitori for appetisers. Then I had miso soup and chicken katsu. SO GOOD! Then last night we planned to go out, but it turned into a fiasco of just ending up spending 2 hours to get to a place that is not too far away from where we were staying. Just…not good. Because of that I had a very up and down 5 hours of sleep and as soon as I was really into my sleep and dreaming and everything, the alarm goes off. Lovely...

So, now we are at the Grosvenor Hotel in Stratford and we went and had a nice little lunch at a café that was adorable and had really funny people working there. We also got to go and visit Holy Trinity Church, Shakespeare’s grave being in that church. Stratford is a really nice place. It’s very quiet and quaint and you just can’t help but like it. London is something, but that is in a city way. This is nice in a relaxing way and I hope to wind down before we head back to America on Monday.

 Most empty room in the ENTIRE place.

 I got to geek out a little in here.

 Dr. Who in a modern exhibit

 I felt like Belle stepping into this room. So full of books and so very, very beautiful.

The Rosetta Stone