Alright, the culture shock and vacation mindset is over. Welcome to school, Rachel.
Thanks, Rachel.
I say this because I had a very student-esque Sunday. I had, originally, plans to go to church in the morning before I worked all day on homework and getting super on top of all my BADA work. Unfortunately, I woke up way too early feeling very ill, and too ill to go to church, for sure. So I did get to stay indoors and work on homework all day, but the way I was feeling and general tiredness from the last week didn't let me be as productive as I'd have liked to be.
For the record, I'm not so sick that I'm dying or struggling or can't move. Actually, it was more of a 24-hour thing and I'm feeling better today.
Today, I had my first tutorial with Ian in the morning. This means I got some one-on-one time with Ian where we looked at the Shakespeare monologue I've been working on this week, and he worked through it with me. We found some common problems I had, one of which was not quite playing the comedy of the monologue. I felt much better about it by the end, but I need to practice it a bit more to make it more fun to get into. Next time, it'll be better.
Shakespeare class, I also worked on my sonnet in front of the class. That went ok, but got good pointers for next time and, again, next time it'll be much better.
During our all-school meeting, we got exciting news: our first master class is scheduled! It'll be next Friday, with Fiona Shaw. I'm so pumped. It's going to be amazing!!!
Movement class was a full-on workout. I wish I was joking, but all of our feet were disgusting by the end (barefoot-only class) and there was literally sweat practically covering the floor. We did play some super fun and active games though. I had a lot of fun!
Actually, here's a good opportunity to talk about theater school in general. Acting school, for those of you unfamiliar, is nothing like typical coursework. Your classmates are not normal, your professors even less so. Your classroom is almost a dance space, but there's ALWAYS plenty of chairs. If a circle isn't formed within the first 15 minutes of class then something weird is up. I walked into Shakespeare class today and was inspired to run through my sonnet- the room was covered with warming up students stretching, yawning, vocalizing, pacing, and muttering Shakespeare's words to themselves. Actually, if I hadn't have joined, I don't think I would have felt like I was preparing properly. We explore the ideas of being completely honest with each other without ever actually telling the truth of why we're being honest. We just trust we are, and use someone else's language to make that happen. Then we build trust and muscle with each other by skipping, crawling, running (so much running), lifting each other up, laying down (sometimes on top of each other), hugging, kissing (appropriately), and tickling each other. Yes, these and more all happened in movement today. And even after that, I still don't know everything there is to know about my group members, but I don't need to. We trust each other because we work together and we just have to. That's what you do in theater- you support each other and trust each other, even if you're going to be up for the same role in the height of competition sometime in your career. It doesn't matter. None of that matters. What matters is that each person can do the best they can in that moment. Acting is all about the present moment- the right now, the active, and the eccentric. You can curse, you can be the best and worst of yourself (at the same time, even), you can utterly fail in front of everyone, and absolutely no one will care too much, because most likely, they've all done the same thing before.
But what's the point? Why do we do all of this? Well, that's up to each person to decide for themselves, but the ultimate goal, no matter the motivation, is to tell a story and communicate truth about who we are as humans and what this world is we live in.
So there ya go. Tangent over.
High Comedy was last, and none of us are liking the class too much. I understand the ideas our teacher is trying to get us to think about- I get the point of the activities, but I don't necessarily agree with her methods of making those points.
By the end of school today, London had already been raining most of the day, and Olivia, Alexa, and I were really hungry, so it was back to the Landward with umbrellas in tow. Fortunately, we didn't get rained on- the showers died down right before we walked outside. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow though. Hooray for seasons!!!
Since getting back, it's been an evening of cooking, eating, chatting, singing, and studying with the flatmates. Nothing new, really. Welcome to student life.
Thinking about being a full-time acting student, at least for the moment, makes me really happy. I like this lifestyle, I really do. I spend the day working hard, physically and mentally and emotionally, so I feel at the end of the day both like I have so much more tangible work to do, yet also satisfied with the work I put in. I never got that feeling from any class I've taken before in college, at least that I can remember. If this is being an actor, bring it on!
Speaking of theater, hopefully I can make it to my first West End show tomorrow. Tickets are a bit pricey, but I've been following the news about this one for a few months and it would be a treat to see. Wish me luck!
Fight on, friends.
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