Friends in Fun Places

I know, I know. It's been a while since I've written. Nearly 2 weeks to be exact. I think a sort of panic set in that my time here was running short, so I've been running around like a maniac. Since I last checked in I've:

Seen Enron, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry IV Part 1, All My Sons, Les Miserables, The Tempest, and Insane in the Brain.

I've visited Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's Birthplace) and started a new class with the all-encompassing Patsy Rodenburg. I am unqualified to attempt to explain her brilliance.

Here's what wikipedia has to say:

"She trained in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama and is a published voice and acting coach. She has worked regularly with Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Ralph Fiennes, Joseph Fiennes, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Natalie Portman, to name only a few. She was previously in residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company (9 years) and also works with the Royal Court Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and Almeida Theatre, London. She has also worked extensively with the Moscow Art Theatre, Complicite, Cheek by Jowl, Comédie-Française, etc. She directed a production of King Lear in Los Angeles in 2008. Patsy Rodenburg teaches in the United States at the Michael Howard Studios in New York City."

Not too shabby. We're currently working on monologues from King Lear. I've chosen a Cordelia:

"Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all."

Short. Sweet. To the point.
As a class we have a 6 hour marathon session with Patsy this upcoming Monday.

Then!
Yesterday a most wonderful thing happened. My good friend AJ from HIGH SCHOOL (who happens to be studying abroad in England) came down to London for the day to hang with me! How lucky am I? I've known this lovely bloke since I was 15 (and he was 13).

Picked him up around 1:00pm at Victoria Station. We had some gourmet Pret a Manger in a local park and caught up. Then, we set off to find the Doctor Who Police Box. Something my husband wanted me to find. After much huff and puff, we found it! There it stands outside the Earls Court Tube Stop!



We then decided to head over to the British Museum, which is only a couple of blocks from where I live and yet I still had not visited it!



The most interesting collection, to me, was the Egyptian stuff. God love the Brits, they went down to Egypt and cleaned out those pyramids. I think they would've taken the pyramids, too, if they could've.



A large part of Egyptian history is the symbols of the Pharaohs. Scarabs, Cats, Ox, Falcons, and Dogs were some of the animals chosen. I think, if I were a Pharaohs, my symbol would definitely be a Falcon. I think they're awesome.




AJ and I then trucked it over the Leicester Square to see the beautiful Charlie Chaplin statue. Something I've wanted to see for so long. After all the hardships he went through toward the end of his life, it was lovely to see him commemorated in such a lovely, populated park.




We spent the rest of our evening eating at Chipotle, seeing Insane in the Brain at the Peacock Theatre, and then having one last pint before he had to catch his coach back to Coventry.

What a lovely day!



Cheerio!
-L