Cheers: "Cowardice is the only sin."

'ello!

It's been yet another crazy and eventful week here in London. I'll try and make this post more entertaining than the last. Last week I was very stressed out and hadn't gotten much sleep. Don't worry -- I recovered fully by sleeping most of Friday, Saturday, and today. Before you call me a homebody, sickness has been spreading like wildfire around BADA, so it's probably for the best.

This week we saw two shows, which is awesome and exhausting all at the same time. The first was the Master and the Margarita at the Barbican. I would try and explain it, but it would pretty much be in vain. To summarize: there was a retelling of the trial between Pontius Pilate and Jesus, a romance between a writer and this chick named Margarita, who at one point sells her soul to the devil to save her lover and traipses around bare-ass naked for over a half an hour, it all takes place in Stalinist Russia, and a demon cat rapes a guy who runs a theatre.

...

Okay, that recap was a little insulting to the work done by the actors. I wasn't sure what to make of this 3 1/2 hour show (with the first act running over two hours...yikes) when we came out of it; needless to say, I was very grateful for the cappaccino I chugged just before the houselights went down.

Side note: They are super chill about eating and drinking here in the theater, which I definitely appreciate with sometimes only having an hour to get to the theater after class.

Anyway, about two days afterwards when we were talking about it in my dramatic criticism class, I realized that I enjoyed most of the show. It was definitely an ensemble show, and every single actor on the stage had unwavering commitment and precision. There were also some amazing technical things going on, and it all came together beautifully.

The second show we saw this week was Richard III at the Apollo. Mark Rylance, who played Richard, has been heralded as the best Shakespearian actor of our time, so I had high hopes for it. Well...perhaps my severe lack of sleep this week was to blame, but I fell asleep during most of the second half. It wasn't necessarily boring, but I'm not sure I enjoyed Mark Rylance's performance. Maybe I need to see it again after having a double espresso.

Anyway, I had the fortune of seeing another show this weekend called Monkey Bars at the Unicorn Theatre. This and the Master and the Margarita has probably been my favorite piece of theatre so far. This one was a very short (just over an hour) show where the author interviewed kids (8-10 year olds) about being adults, and the adult actors acted as the children. That being said, all of the actors were dressed in business attire, so it was more the child's words being spoken by an adult. It was funny, sweet, and poignant. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for.

Also went out for Chantel's birthday on Friday night to a club/bar in Camden Town called The Underworld. A lot of fun, and Chantel even got a British guy to buy her a drink. Good music, too!

I guess theatre overtook my week. Guess that's all for now. Oh, and since I was lame and didn't take any pictures this week, I'll post some pictures that I took last week.

Rookie Mistake #8 - Only leaving about 40 minutes to get to class on the day it snowed about 2 inches. In Pumas and sweatpants Trying to power walk through the snow covered sidewalks (I guess they don't clear snow here) with frozen feet and your sweatpants soaked up to your ankles doesn't really work out.

Rookie Mistake #9 - Following someone's lead who says they know where they're going when you're pretty sure they're wrong. They're wrong. (sorry guys, love you <3 hehe)

Rookie Mistake #10 - Planning large events with BADA students ;)

Rookie Mistake Counter: 10

Pictures from last week: