(2-10)– I’ve gotten a bit behind on my blog! It’s been a very busy weekend and I feel like I’ve barely had a second to sit down at all. I’m also still trying to work over a cold that’s sticking on relentlessly. Overall, though, I don’t want to complain– hopefully, by the time I get through next week (where I’ll be staying in London), I’ll feel as fresh as the daffodils that are already coming up here.
I went on a walk Monday morning and spent most of the day wandering around shops and working on school things. I finally picked up a Valentine’s Day Secret Cupid gift for our exchange on Thursday and even took a little nap.
However, Gianna and I made plans to go see Wicked at 7:30pm, so we made our way down to the theatre and found out that our reduced-price tickets were only eight rows back from the front. It’s really shocking how cheaply you can get good tickets here and it just makes me ten times as excited to see more shows later in the year.
The stage and the theatre were beautiful and you can really tell how much work goes into this beloved musical. Although I’ve always been dying to see Wicked on Broadway, and I expect to go do so when I get back to the states, it was also really cool to have this experience. I love the show either way, but the way it comes across is definitely changed if I hear the story told from a British voice.
For example, Helen Woolf, who played Glinda, was upbeat and relentlessly cheerful, with a hint of the selfishness her character is sometimes known for, but she’s not the ditzy blonde everyone thinks she is. Like the U.S. version, she’s strong and goes through the character arc we all love to see. Elphaba, too, played by Nikki Bentley, is different, but keeps her most important aspects– such as her fierceness and unwavering belief in right and wrong– that make her character so beloved. I’ve always loved Stephen Schwartz, and this musical, so having the chance to see it was a lot of fun. Every character knocked it out of the park.
(2-11)– Today started off early with British Life and Culture and a discussion about the British government. It’s really interesting to hear about the absolute ridiculousness of its history and how these translate to the current culture and traditions still performed.
Starting with the Monarchy, checks and balances are held in place by Parliament, which is composed of the House of Lords (positions filled, traditionally, by birth, and now by length/strength of political career) and the House of Commons (Also known as The Opposition, a shadow government of common folk ready to take the place of the Lords in an uprising). The monarch consults with the Houses, which have some ability to change rules/regulations. The House of Commons plays its part by trying to elect a leader, Labour or Conservative (usually, it’s a two-party system similar to our own).
Although I’m not qualified to really talk about it, and I’ll be visiting Westminister in the next two weeks to really learn more, I think for its flaws, it is definitely a system that has to work on some level. One thing that does seem shocking to me, though, is that it seems like most of the public is not very involved with politics (especially after the Iraq war demonstrations, where their protests went largely unheeded, but participation is once again increasing with Brexit), and yet the entire purpose of the House of Commons is to make sure that the public voice was actually being included by the monarch/House of Lords. It’s one of a couple paradoxes I’m starting to realize happen here, and yet somehow, its function isn’t that affected.
We then moved on to Shakespeare on Stage, where we had a shortened class because of afternoon events. Nothing extra notable happened in class, except that we finished up The Taming of The Shrew. Based on purely a read-through, my perspective didn’t really change (aka, I still strongly dislike it), but I guess I did have a chance to see why other people disagree, which is always important. If anything, perhaps I don’t mind it quite as much and believe that how, when, where, and why it is performed matters much more that then how it comes across as a physical document in my hands.
Class ended early and we went on a short Tube/walk to get to The Globe, where we had a tour and a performance for The Taming of The Shrew. On the way there, we passed some cool landmarks, such as the instantly recognizable (New) St. Paul’s Cathedral, an English Baroque style church designed by Christopher Wren, built at the highest point of London in the early 17th century, and the Millenium Bridge of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince fame, a steel pedestrian suspension bridge opened permanently in Feb. 2002.
When we made it to The Globe in some suddenly blistering cold weather, we had a quick tour with a very knowledgable guide. Although this Globe Theatre is the third iteration and located on a different part of Bankside (the Thames side opposite London, where the immoral acts escaped the Puritan city), it is such a stunningly perfect reproduction that you can’t help but feel, once again, transported back. Made entirely of wood (the two pillars on the stage carved to look like marble are actually trees that would have been saplings in Shakespeare’s time), with standing room on the ground (the penny seats from Shakey’s time) and stands going up three levels, it feels authentic and almost out of touch with our modern understanding of theatre. But it’s beautiful ceiling (painted like the heavens, with the earth as the stage and hell as belowdecks), its thatched roofs (banned in the rest of London), and a kind of resonant, audible loudness which it is naturally imbued with can make you realize why so many people felt transported out of their lives while watching and continued to spend their hard-earned wages.
After the tour, the girls and I went over to a Mediterranean/Greek place called The Real Greek. It was a nice little restaurant with a view of the Thames and some good food. I got a deal that included Greek flatbread, “Melitzanosalata”– a “light and fragrant blend of smoked aubergine, garlic, shallots and lemon” (which I didn’t really like that much if I’m being honest), and a really well-cooked falafel. It was a good meal but perhaps a little small, like a lot of their portioning here. I was still happy with it for the next part of our day, which was back at the Globe’s second theatre, known as the Sam Wanamaker (for it and this iteration of the Globe’s creator).
If the Globe is impressive for its size and aura, the Wanamaker is an equally cool theatre for its diminutive size. Nestled into an orchestra pit (in some really uncomfortable seats, albeit a nice view of the stage) the theatre is no bigger than two normal-sized kitchens stacked on top of each other. It has a beautiful ceiling that copies that of the Globe; its coolest factor is the chandeliers of candles that are able to ascend and descend at need, mimicking the lighting of a theatre around Shakespeare’s time.
It really was quite beautiful, and although the seats were a little rough, it was well worth the view. Unfortunately, the view was quite ruined by the production of the Taming of the Shrew which we were preparing to see. With sightlines that made it, on several occasions, impossible to see the players, a confusing remix of the plot with characters playing multiple roles, beige costumes and actors who seemed less invested in their roles than getting a cheap laugh from the audience, this production was my least favorite of the semester so far. Even with my bias against the play, I tried so hard to have an open mind for this. Yet the Kate character showed no emotion, the Tranio character was barely understandable, and the Hortensio role, understudied by the director (!!!), was painfully slow since she wrote the show. This version also included some singing, dancing, and live music, which wasn’t completely bad but in my opinion didn’t really add much to the show as a whole. I later found out that the stumbling we heard and assumed was part of the writing was actually simply because the actors had never really had designated parts (and thus didn’t really know the roles at all). Overall, it mostly failed for me as a version of the play, and just had too much weird stuff going on to really appreciate it, unfortunately.
The cold weather stuck through until after the show, so we ran across the bridge like little kids and tried to get home as fast as possible. It’s definitely nice to be around other people my age for once, but it reminds me of my friends at home.
I wouldn’t say I’m homesick, but I do miss them a lot. I really wish they could come to visit me and see some of the cool things that I’m seeing. It’s hard being away from them, as much as I really love it here.
(2-12)– I started out today a bit slow, although it actually turned out perfectly– since I didn’t make it out of the house by 10am, I entered the ticket lottery for Six, something I’ve been trying to get basically since we’ve been here. This time though, I was lucky and got two tickets! This was my first lottery win, so I was really, really excited. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait for the day to end!
Before then, though, I went on a run this morning and saw Hyde and Kensington Gardens a bit more. At this point, I’ve just about crossed the whole of Hyde Park. The paths there are growing on me a bit since I know them a little better, but I still like Regent’s a bit more. The best thing about Hyde, I’d say, is that its part of a long chain of parks that are easy to cross over into (Although I’m realizing if you’re willing to go a bit farther out, so is Regents).
I popped across the street at the bridge in the middle of the Serpentine Lake and made my way through Kensington Gardens, where I got a really cool view of the palace through “The Arch,” a sculpture by Henry Moore. I also found what seemed like a nice summer date spot (there was actually a couple doing wedding photos) at the Italian Gardens, a set of really pretty fountains that I assume bloom with fauna a little later in the year. Maybe once it warms up I’ll walk down here and do some work. Finally, I found an interesting statue called Physical Energy by G. F. Watts, a pretty big bronze statue with a man riding a horse. It’s apparently meant to “help humanity embrace progress,” and to Watts, it was a symbol of our need for new challenges. he is quoted as saying that the statue is “a symbol of that restless physical impulse to seek the still unachieved in the domain of material things.” A pretty lofty goal for a statue, if you ask me, but cool nonetheless.
For the middle of the day, I cleaned and worked on school projects and scheduling trips. I didn’t get much down, to be honest, but it’s nice to hang out with the other students.
I wasted some time while I was waiting for 7pm to roll around, and tried to convince someone in the flat to go with me. I thought that we would be excited to go, but everyone is trying to be careful with their money. It is understandable, even though it was a bit upsetting since they spend their money on other things, like going out (but I can’t ask them to have the same interests as me, either, I guess). So I ended up asking the other flat, and one of the girls over there, Hannah, said she would come with me. We went down to the West End and picked up the tickets, and then went out for “dinner” at Shake Shack (fries and a shake, very healthy!). I thought I lost my phone for a second, but found it, thankfully.
Then we went to the show, which was actually really, really cool. It was hard to beat out Sara Barallies, but Six’s concert-like style of storytelling almost did the trick. And we three rows back from the front, which was so awesome.
The musical was written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss and was performed by Cambridge students in 2017. It’s plot revolves around the six wives of Henry IV, who have come together as a girl-pop band to “tour” and find out, once and for all, which of them has been treated the worst by Henry and history.
Catherine of Aragon (Jarneia Richard-Noel), Anne Boleyn (Courtney Bowman), Jane Seymour (Natalie Paris), Anna of Cleves (Alexia McIntosh), Katherine Howard (Sophie Isaacs), and Catherine Parr (Danielle Steers) all compete and sing for the hour and 45 minutes without stopping. The level of intensity they maintain is almost scary and so impressive.
In the end, they even gave us a little opportunity to film an encore, and they kept the energy up right until the end. I loved the show so much and this little surprise was super cool! A couple of the queens even signed my Playbill! Since this show is a UK story, and it’s in such high demand, it felt even cooler to be sitting where we were.
(2-13)– We didn’t really do much today, other than class. I’m still feeling sick and am trying to get over it. We also have a super busy weekend coming up, so everyone is taking it easy. After London Journal, which I think is probably my favorite class, finishing up early because of personal reasons for the teacher, we all hung out a little longer in the classroom and exchanged 5-pound or less gifts for Secret Cupid, a fun little game we decided to all do back in January. I got Olivia a little mug with an O and some candy, which I hope she appreciated, and Em, who was sick but gave me her present to me a little later, included a book light, bookmarks, and a ben holder. Everyone else seemed to really like their gift. It was a cute idea and I’m glad we did it!
(2-14)– Happy Valentine’s Day! Keeping in line with my every other day running routine, I went pack over to Kensington Gardens. Today I spotted a really pretty black swan in the Round Pound and the 1912 bronze Peter Pan statue, the location of which was chosen by the author, JM Barrie because it is where Pan landed his bird-nest boat in “The Little White Bird.” Apparently, this statue can also talk with a phone app and has recently undergone renovations. It’s a nice little dedication to one of the many authors that make this country, and indeed the whole world, so special, and just a bit more magical. I really enjoyed seeing little kids and even an elderly couple stop and look at the statue with a smile on their faces.
After the run, most of the rest of the flat convinced me to go out and see a movie rather than do the work I keep pushing off. I tried to resist, but once I realized they were going to see Parasite I couldn’t resist.
We went back to Curzon but ended up in the bigger theatre today, which was actually a lot more comfortable. And since I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone, I won’t say anything other than this– it deserved its Oscar, and you should go see it. I rate it a solid 9/10, and would even watch it a second time for its messages and easter eggs, which I’m sure are there.
The rest of the night was spent eating a chocolate cake that Nicole made (she likes to bake, and she’s good at it too, even though it came out a little underdone because none of us really know how to work our oven), and going out to a bar in Camden to make sure Mia made it to a date okay and felt comfortable. It was a fun little foray and we had a couple drinks before Nicole, Emily, and I broke off from the others and headed home. We stopped on the way and got a roadside falafel and chips (Fries, I can’t resist). The others stayed out for a bit longer and went to a couple of other places, but when we were all home, everyone basically turned in right away, since we have a trip to Oxford planned early for the next morning.
Happy holiday from Flat 23! 🙂 ❤
Ethan Knox 
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