I want to move to Stratford. It is so beautiful here and I love that theatre is like the center of it all! So much happens everyday that its hard for me to keep up with the blog, so bear with me everyone.
On Thursday we had class in the morning and then went down to the GLOBE THEATRE in London! For those of you who don't know, the Globe was the name of the original theatre where Shakespeare's plays were performed during his time. It is open air so when I looked up I could see the stars (and the airplanes). The stage is a thrust stage which means that its basically a semi circular theatre and the stage juts out into the audience.
You can either stand as one of the "groundlings" for a mere 5 pounds or you can sit on benches further back. My group swapped places at intermission so that each person did both (I liked standing better). This was a theatre experience unlike anything I have ever done. There are raised platforms that go out into the audience so actors make their entrances and exits on those sometimes coming from behind you.
Rosalind as Ganymede and Celia
We saw "As You Like It" and there were scenes were the actors would come in from behind you through the crowd and walk up onstage. And during the fight scene, the wrestlers fell into the crowd and stuff. It was so neat!
When I was a groundling I was so close that I could touch the stage as there is no barrier or anything between you and the actors. This was my favorite character the fool, Touchstone. He was so funny! He also interacted with the audience alot.
The whole thing was very interactive as the audience would cheer and boo the events onstage and the actors would respond to the things the audience said or did. They would address certain people in the audience specifically as well.
The play itself was wonderful as well. It was a traditional interpretation and the actors were so funny and really kept your attention (mostly because they kept like sneaking up behind you or appeared in the balcony). I did not like the girl who played Rosalind though. She was just really energetic and then when she switched back to being a girl at the end she lost all the personality she had when she was pretending to be a boy.
Orlando and Rosalind as Ganymede
The next night we saw had class and then saw "As You Like It" again, but this time put on by the RSC here in Stratford. It was absolutely fantastic. I was really just blown away. Ok I may just do a separate blog post on this play because I like it that much and I want to relay every detail to you guys. Like you want to know that much, too bad it's MY blog!
Ok So on Saturday we got up so early to drive to Blenheim Palace on our way to Oxford. Bleheim palace was absolutely ridiculous. It's huge! It is the home of the Duke of Marlborough (I think) and he actually still lives there in the private wing of the house.
This is actually where Winston Churchill was born. It's the Spenser-Churchill family that inherits the title and home there but since he was not the eldest son he wasn't in line for it. Also Princess Diana was somehow a part of this family as well.
One of my favorite parts was just the extensive grounds of these place. There tons of gardens and fountains and paths through the woods that were all a part of this palace. My favorite thing I found was the Secret Garden.
Or not so secret as there were signs directing you towards it. But it was still absolutely gorgeous.
Then we went to Oxford and spent a few hours there. I just walked around and went to Blackwell's which is a ridiculous 3 story book store that has anything you could ever want in print. We also went to the Eagle and Child to just relax.
This is the pub were the Inklings would sit and discuss what they were writing at the time. This included people like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. We actually sat where they were would have sat at the time. So that was neat.
Then we came back to the hotel and just collapsed as we were so exhausted!
I've got another jam-packed week ahead of me at Stratford so I'll try to update again soon!
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