Tuesdays are officially my favorite day.
On Tuesdays, unless I were to have a Tuesday tutorial upcoming in the semester (which would still be awesome- I loved my first tutorial and am very excited for the next), I don't have class until 11am, which means I get to sleep in a little more than usual.
The first class of the day is Shakespeare class then, which means I get to work with our teacher, Russ. I am loving Russ more every class- he is encouraging and eccentric and scatter-brained but he never lets us feel like our mistakes are signs of failure. On the contrary, it's fun to fail in Russ's class, and it's fun to work in Russ's class. I've learned the most about acting from this class so far, I think.
Then, I have my longest break between classes of the entire week- a solid two hours to eat, chat with friends, make plans, and get some work done- all of which happened today. I decided to go see Miss Saigon, but not tonight. During this break, two more people- Brooke and Emily- made it known they wanted to come, so we made plans to see a Saturday matinee. Yay, friends!
And then, to end the day off, we have one long class of Stage Combat.
Last week, our stage combat class was taught by a substitute, as Philip, our normal instructor, couldn't be there. Well, this week, we met Philip, and it is with great delight that I might be able to announce my favorite BADA professor. I love all my teachers- they are all fantastic and wonderful people- but Philip... He's something else.
We were greeted with a stoic stare, as we walked in the room. When it was time to start class, he commanded attention merely by walking to the front of where we were sitting and intensely, silently, staring at each one of us. When he speaks, it is with the deep, rolling, luxurious British voice that would have been boring if it wasn't laced with intimidation and quips. He informed us, again, of some of his class standards and rules and how our journals are meant to be. And if we do well on our journals, we get a gold star.... "metaphorically." If our journals aren't up to par, we get push-ups, "and that is not metaphorical." As today was the first day, we all started off with push-ups. And huge bouts of giggles. And intoxicating enjoyment of everything this man said and did. He's a captivating individual, even if he looks like he actually could kill you. He probably could- he knows exactly what he's talking about in class, and every one of his instructions was precise, to the point, respectful, and accurate. He's a wonderful actor; funny in his deadpan, serious way; but still stoic and concentrated and intense.
I think the point I'm wanting to make, and can't in any other way, is to have you imagine Professor Snape, before Harry came to Hogwarts.
I am learning Stage Combat from my own version of Professor Snape, and his name is Philip. And he hates pink.
He chose me as the subject to demonstrate how to do a hair pull on, which was really fun, actually. When he was demonstrating all the safety precautions and the step-by-step details of the move, I could tell that I was working with a very trained person and there was no chance of a mistake or anything going wrong. And, he was very easy to act off of. We finally did the move, and I could easily put myself, in my imagination, into a role where he would be giving me a hair pull like that, and how I could react in that given circumstance. Hair pulls with professionals. Huzzah.
Last week, it was so clear that the class lasted almost 3 hours. Today, it was just long enough, if not too short.
My day after that was fairly normal. Alexa and I walked back to the Landward, we all made dinner and hung out, then started on homework. Alexa, Olivia, and I read our play for tomorrow, "The Duchess of Malfi," together for a short while before they went to bed and I finished it on my own. I actually really liked the play much better than last week's "Doctor Faustus." It's a tragedy, and rightly so, but a good and intriguing one.
Since I had time after the play and wanted to get off the couch, I whipped together some chocolate-covered almonds (I had too many almonds and there's no way I can eat that many raw almonds without feeling sick), and now, well, here I am, working off the sugar from the chocolate-covered spoon I licked more than once by typing away at my blog.
It's finally starting to rain in London. I've seen the rain from the windows, during class, but have yet to be rained on. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I'm feeling indulgent in the cooler weather and it's a chilly delight to wear a scarf finally. I'm excited for this weekend, which is now planned (for the most part) and looking very full but very fun. I'm starting my next monologue for tutorials, trying to think of something to perform for Fiona Shaw (contemporary or classical?), not thinking about money as much as I should have (which means not worrying which is good), and am looking forward to Annie and Elsie's arrivals in London within the next week. Oh, and I called the Oyster card company and soon, I'll be able to travel around on the Underground without selling my first-born child to pay for the tickets, which is exciting. It's been nearly a week and I haven't gotten it yet, but they promised it would come in before Friday.
Sorry there's not much to report, besides Professor Philip Snape, but I suppose the update for today is primarily that I'm still very, very happy, and hopefully will remain so. I'm pretty confident I will. I do miss the voices and faces from home though. I'd love to Skype as many people as I can- just let me know if you're available!
Fight on, friends.
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