Sixth Week of Classes

This week started off with a visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum to check out the Theatre and Performance Collection. We were able to look at artifacts from famous performances and artists. They had sections on theatre, music, set design, costume, and dance. We spent the day marveling at the priceless items from classic performances and shows. It was a lovely outing where we were able to see some truly historic pieces of history. Here are just a few of the relics we saw that day:

Valkyrie costume from The Producers

Sex Pistols t-shirt created after Sid Vicious' homicide and suicide

Black Swan costume from Swan Lake.

I wandered into a few other exhibits and saw this gorgeous vase.

Our weekly theatre visit was to see Cheek by Jowl's performance of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, the Jacobean tragedy that created an uproar when it was written in the 1600's based on its themes of murder and incest. We saw quite a graphic version of it, and yet it never felt out of control or overly dramatic. The theatre company handled the text extremely well and the majority of the acting was very impressive. They moved as one and set the play in such a clearly defined world that no directing choices felt out of place. One wouldn't expect any less from Cheek by Jowl.

Our RADA schedules have been becoming a bit more hectic this week, as we continue to rehearse for Twelfth Night and The Rape of Lucrece. My group, performing the latter, has our text memorized and finished with the blocking last Thursday in time to do a stumble-through on Friday. It's slowly coming together and I can see the finished product in my mind. I am excited to be a part of something so inventive and I am loving how each of us are shaping the production and giving our own individual flair to the text. I know we have a lot to do in the three days we have left, but I'm sure we can pull something together that is truly impressive. I wish I could invite my friends and family to come see the show, but unfortunately it is only shown to students and teachers of RADA. I will let you know how it goes in my next post!

Friday night I went to the RADA Open Mic Night. This is an event organized by the full-time RADA students and held in the RADA Bar. A stage was set up on risers, complete with mic and piano if needed, and whoever wanted to (and was brave enough) to get up and perform was allowed. Everyone sang, but some sang a capella, with a guitar, with the piano, even with a ukulele! My favorite act was by two girls, Patsy and Eliza (they called themselves Patsiza) and did their own renditions of You Send Me and a very entertaining cover of Rolling in the Deep. Eliza's voice was jazzy and upbeat, while Patsy accompanied on the ukulele and sang with a rich, smoky tone. The two voices sounded beautiful together and was one of the most unique performances of the night. Even I found the guts to get up there and sing an a capella version of Can't Help Lovin' That Man. If you'd like to see it, I put the video on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDRAJCuVGls&list=UUaC2QRLsun3gh9xJ1sRt6Cw&index=1&feature=plcp

I am very tired as I write this entry, because today was the Zambia Benefit Football Tournament at Coram's Fields. NYUL generously paid the entry fee that goes to benefit people in Zambia so that myself and eight other NYU students could participate. Unfortunately, that classic London weather decided to make a pronounced appearance in the form of a downpour, winds, and low temperatures so that we were all soaked and freezing by the end of the preliminary rounds. Unfortunately, we were one place away from making the semi-finals, finishing fifth out of eight teams. I'd say we played very well considering we were all new to each other's styles and the teams we were up against obviously were very comfortable with each other. Nonetheless, we had fun and it was an exhausting but satisfying day.

Armaan, Aman, Joe, Vijay, Patrick
Andre, Joe, Me, and Emanuel, our captain:
Members of the NYUL Football Club!

That's all for now. Next week I'll tell you all about my theatre visit to see Purge by Sofie Oksanen, my performance of The Rape of Lucrece, and my first two days in London with my boyfriend, Steve, who is coming to visit me for my spring break.