Shakespeare is officially the idol of BADA.
I haven't gone a single day in this program, I think, without someone talking about, quoting, praising, cursing, and searching for a monologue/scene from Shakespeare. Everything is Shakespeare. He has multiple nicknames: Will, Shakespeare, Shakes, Billy Shakes, Billum Shaksburd, etc. Everything is Shakespeare, all the time, always.
I didn't realize this until yesterday, when I finally got to meet up with Annie and Elsie. They're both studying in London this semester as well, but didn't get here until this past Saturday. Finally, I had my first conversation where Shakespeare didn't come up... and then I remembered that there is life outside of theatre and Shakespeare. Besides me not actually knowing how I feel about this, it was so wonderful to get to see both of them. They've both been to London before, but it was fun for me to be able to discuss the city with them. Also, to catch up with them and their lives. I love those girls.
We were dear friends in high school, but I'm also happy to say that even after just 3 weeks, I can solidly say that I've made some really awesome friends in BADA. There's my flatmates, obviously, and also the boys from upstairs who have now come over for tea many, many times (they happen to be over as I type this, actually. Yesterday, they were here for tea and I fell asleep on the couch while they were here. We're at that point. They almost carried me to bed but didn't). There's also the super sweet girls from our group- Brooke, Sarah, Emily, Karli, Mikey, and more. We have a great group going on, and it makes me very happy!
Alexa and I have been having fun trying to assign Hogwarts professors to all of our BADA teachers. So far, we have a version of Snape, Trelawney, and we think, maybe, Lockhart. We're having a difficult time with Russ- Russ (our Shakespeare teacher) is so his own person that there is no equating his eccentricity to anyone in Hogwarts. We've also had fun deciding what Hogwarts houses we're all in. I am assuredly in Ravenclaw, and we've discovered Alexa, Bryn, and Charlie are Gryffindor; Olivia and Alex are Slytherin; and Nahome took a quiz that gave him Gryffindor, but he identifies as Ravenclaw so who knows?
Hmm... what else has happened this week...
My classes really are the majority of my life here. I have long days of classes, followed by long nights of homework. There was one particular High Comedy exercise this week that had me up working on it until 3am. It was helpful for my scene, but point taken. I'm hoping that I'm dividing my time well enough between class work and London exploration, but I still have not seen Buckingham Palace so... maybe not. I am very proud of the work I've been doing. In particular, in our Shakespeare class we're focusing on Romeo and Juliet. I've been doing a scene with Olivia- Romeo's first entrance into the play- with her as Benvolio and I as the love-sick hero. I have to say, it was a challenging piece that I really struggled with this week, but yesterday I went up and did it again and I think I've got the hang of it. It felt really good, and I'm very proud.
The best part of BADA and classes, besides my classmates and classes, is the theater we get to see. This week, we saw "Three Days in the Country" at the National Theatre. The show was only ok, by my standards, but it had an actor from my favorite TV show, Sherlock, in it. He was fantastic and very fun to watch in action.
Today was an adventure all of its own though. Alexa had to wake me up- I slept through my alarms- but I still made it to class on time and High Comedy went alright. Drama Crit was also great. We talked about The Beaux Stratagem (we're a week behind), and then I had a half hour until our first Master Class.
Fiona Shaw came to work with us and lead us in some exercise and direct some monologues. I didn't get to do a piece for her, but hearing her direction to my classmates who went up and hearing everything she had to say was a chance of a lifetime and an absolute privilege. She is a very wise and talented actress, and imparted some wonderful wisdom and wit to us. Once I got over being slightly star-struck, I had a great time!
Alexa and I got tea, then I spent some time wandering through Regents Park, taking some me time and exploring. I found a water-fowl viewing point, and wandered around the lake and then down Baker Street with the intention of stopping somewhere to read, though I never did. It was a beautiful day in London- peaceful, brimming with life, sunny, and content.
At some point soon, I need to do some journaling. There's so much that I'm learning, and that I want to dig deeper into as far as deciding what kind of actress I am and what I can bring to the work that I'm doing. More than that, I'd like to dig into some of the character analysis work we've done in class, and do a character analysis on myself. I think it would be fascinating- What are my given circumstances? What's my objective? What are my relationships? Who knows where that entry would lead.
I have so many books I'm hoping to read- mostly Shakespeare plays or books about playing Shakespeare, but also digging into Sherlock Holmes finally. After talking with Elsie and Annie, I'm reminded of their amazing relationships with Jesus as well, and it's reminding me of all the Christian-centered books I brought to London that I have yet to read as well. There's also my actual Bible, though I've been good on that (halfway through Psalms!)
Life is full and brimming. I've had a couple bad days, but I've had many, many more great ones. Sorry for not posting something every day, but it's been nice to settle into life and its routine.
Tomorrow, we go to Stratford-upon-Avon, kicking off our Shakespeare-saturated weekend. Because I'm starting to worry we don't discuss him enough ;)
Fight on, friends.
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