All the World's a Stage

So originally I was going to do my last Italy post tonight after I went to that TV show taping or whatever. Turns out I did not do either of those. The person I was going to the TV show taping with never came and got me and I ended up sleeping from 7:30 to 11:30. Haha, oops. I was really tired all day.

This morning I woke up at 7 and got ready to walk to the Globe Theatre (picture 1) which is about 4 miles away. Vanessa and I walked there. The morning light was really pretty. We walked by Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern. Now that's a list of London attractions! It was fun to walk and it felt good. Our tour and presentation at the Globe was our class for the day. That is really cool. Our tour guide is an actor at the Globe and he was really good. I thought he was energetic and funny and kept us involved. I was never bored. He talked about how the theatres in London started and what life was like as an actor in Shakespeare's time. Like I said, very informative and fun. We did a scene from Romeo and Juliet. I was the friar. He was showing us how all the directions and cues were in the words of the play. No stage directions necessary really. It was the scene were Romeo is going crazy after he kills Tybalt and nurse comes to visit the Friar and Romeo. It brought me back to ninth grade where me, Matt, Andrew, and Nick did a scene from R & J.

After that, we went into the theatre itself which was really cool. Smaller than I thought it would be. Also the stage was more elaborate than I thought it was going to be (picture 2). More art and carving than I imagined. Our tour guide explained the thatched roof and about the history of the Globe (picture 3). It was interesting to me that an American visiting London and looking for the Globe was the one who ended up getting it rebuilt 11 years ago. We walked behind the stage doors and then walked out on the stage and it was a really cool feeling stepping out and imagining all those people (max capacity 1,700) looking back at you. That's the difference between the Globe and other theatres. At the Globe, the actors and really see the audience and all of their faces. Scary. I really enjoyed the tour.

After that I walked to Trafalgar Square and ate lunch on the steps in front of the National Gallery. Amazing view down the street to Big Ben (picture 4). Plus it was partly sunny which was really nice. After lunch, I walked around the West End killing time until The Pirates of Penzance started. I never come to West End so it cool to explore Chinatown and the theatre district and Soho. Lots of places to eat and very commercialized. I saw 4 different McDonald's.

Pirates of Penzance (picture 5) is an operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan (two English dudes) and was written in the Victorian era. An operetta is like a cross between a musical and an opera. There are some lines that are not really a song but are sung. There is just plain dialogue. Plus there are songs. I was incredibly tired during the play.. Plus we were in the last room on the floor so part of our view was obstructed by the balcony (the top half of the stage was gone). I wasn't that interested in the play. Gilbert and Sullivan poked fun at something different in every operetta they wrote. This one poked fun at the army and the police (some keystone cops action). Parts were funny but other parts were sung in an opera voice and I just couldn't understand what they were saying. Especially the lead woman singer. Ugh. It was a matinee and there were A TON of older people there. I was still glad we got to go just to get a flavor of what theatre was like 130 years ago and to see what an operetta was.

For those counting, that was 3 theatre experiences (The Vertical Hour, Pirates of Penzance, and the Globe) in less than 24 hours. Crazy. After the play, I walked back to the flats. I dinked around on the computer reading sports stuff then went into my room and decided to "rest my eyes" for a couple minutes. As I said, that turned into 4 hours of sleeping. Oh well. I felt I needed it so I don't mind. Then I came down and am writing this. I don't have any plans for tomorrow as of yet. We'll see what I end up doing. I was thinking British Museum but who knows. Have a wonderful day!

Cheers!