Last Week of Classes!

This past week was my last week of classes. We actors helped out the screenwriting students by participating in the reading of their final screenplays. The variety of scripts was amazing; drama, comedy, romantic comedy, action, animated; each screenplay was unique and very interesting. It was so much fun to read my classmate's stories out loud, give them life, and watch the audience's reaction. Most of the time, I wanted to hear the end and more than anything, I wanted to see these screenplays given life on the big screen. I hope I will see more than one in the cinema.

Kiran, Abby, Stacy, Emily, Dana and Leanne getting ready to read Suzanne's screenplay: Uniform

After the screenplay readings, I met with Geoff Bullen, the director of the NYU program at RADA. He shared my final evaluations with me. We talked about what I had learned and how I had grown during my time in London. It was then that I realized that the majority of my growth had not been as an actress of Shakespeare, but as an actress in general. Of course I learned all about verse and iambic pentameter and line endings, but the true transformation occurred in my learning about myself as an actress. The discovery of movement, and how important it is in a character was one of the biggest revelations I had during my time here, and indeed, during my time in college overall. I had several breakthroughs over the course of the semester, and I'm sure I will have many more if I keep exploring acting through movement. Geoff's final instruction to me was to let go more, to loosen up, lighten up, and be free. To put it simply, Geoff wanted me to have more fun with my acting. And that is something I will be happy to do in the future.

That same day, my grandmother arrived from the United States to spend my final week in London with me. My grandmother was an actress and it was she who inspired me to act when I was just eleven years old. Therefore, our plan was to see as much theatre as possible. Friday night we saw Hay Fever at the Noel Coward Theatre. Granna enjoyed it immensely, as did I. Noel Coward is very tricky to direct, but this director was spot on. The play was acted with precision, and every moment was detailed. It was a great first night out at the theatre, seeing a quintessentially British play. The next day, I took Granna on a bus tour of London. I wanted her to be able to see the main attractions of London without having to walk too much. Our bus tour was perfect. We saw all the sights without having to walk for hours. Granna thought the buildings were beautiful and she especially admired Tower Bridge. These are some of the landmarks we saw on our tour (sorry if some of the pictures are blurry; we were on a moving bus):

The art at Trafalgar Square had been changed from a ship in a bottle to this boy on a rocking horse

The beautiful facade of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

Parliament

Westminster Abbey

Later that evening, we saw One Man, Two Guvnors. I had seen the play earlier in the year with my Theatre in London class, but it was one of my favorites so I was happy to see it again. I wanted to be sure my grandmother saw it because she herself had acted in The Servant of Two Masters, a much older play on which One Man, Two Guvnors is based. She appreciated this modern adaptation and laughed the whole way through, as did I. We sat right up front, so we didn't miss a trick. It was especially interesting seeing a new cast's interpretation of the script, and I appreciated the various ways the second cast made the play their own.

The next day was Mother's Day, and I my mother gave me strict instructions to make sure Granna had a wonderful day. So first I took her to Fortnum & Mason for tea. We had a great time just walking around the store inside, looking at all the beautiful confections for sale. When it was time for tea, we took the lift upstairs to the Parlour. We had a seat by the window and ordered our tea. Here are some pictures from our lovely day.

The beautiful facade of Fortnum & Mason.
Our seat at tea looked out of the bottom left window.

Our table in The Parlour.

I ordered hot chocolate and hazelnut cake.
The cake was absolutely heavenly.

Granna ordered iced tea and apple strudel.
She said both were delicious.

I hate to admit it, but the second half of my Mother's Day plans was a bit of a failure. I took Granna to Richmond to see a touring theatre production that I am embarrassed even to name, for fear you will look it up and marvel at how I could ever have thought it would be a good show. Suffice it to say, Granna had a good time laughing at how ridiculous the production was while I sat in shock in my seat, wondering if it could get worse. The second act proved that it could. Granna made me feel better by saying, this is something we will look back and laugh at for a long time. At least I gave her the gift of laughter on Mother's Day and at least we have four more shows to wash the bad taste of that last one out of our mouths.

On Monday, Granna and I took a tour of the Globe theatre. My grandmother was trained in Shakespeare, but she didn't have much chance to perform it once she started working. So it was a treat for her to see the reconstructed Globe and hear all about it from our knowledgeable tour guide. My grandmother is hard to impress, but I actually saw her eyes alight with wonder at the sight of the stage. That night we saw A Long Day's Journey into Night at the Apollo Theatre. The three British actors did an excellent job with their American accents and all four actors were very impressive. Each role is a complex and a difficult one, but all were acted to perfection. It was a successful day that made up for the disastrous Mother's Day show.

The stage at the Globe.

Granna and I in front of the stage. 

Today is lazy day. We had a nice brunch at Le Pain Quotidien and then went souvenir shopping so Granna could buy some gifts for her friends back in the States. Now we're spending our time reading and napping and getting ready for another three days of sightseeing and watching shows. I plan to take her to see Noises Off tomorrow, the Performance exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Harrod's, and Billy Elliot on Thursday, and the Mousetrap on Friday. Friday will also be dedicated to packing for home because we are both leaving on Saturday. I'm so glad I have my grandmother here to celebrate my last week in London and to travel home with me on Saturday.