Seeing History and Being a Part of it

*Note, it has come to my attention that my Grandparents read this blog, so keep any comments you may have clean.

Thursday: The British Museum

I will never tire of going to museums. I cannot get enough of just how much history affects our own lives and getting to see how far we’ve come from those inventions in history. I journeyed over to the museum about 1ish, which the museum is literally 1 ½ blocks from my hostel, so if I ever have an hour to kill, I know where I’m going. The thing that I discovered that surprised me so much was how much I HATE French schoolchildren! Seriously, learn some manners children. They push and shove their ways to the posts to write them down on their little scavenger hunts, they yell and shout to their friends while still in the museum, they’ll run by you, and they overall they are just pure annoying! Apart from them I saw some great artifacts including, mummies (real ones from Egypt), Mayan tablets (real ones from South America), and even a crystal skull (a real one from…well actually that one was man made not too long ago). Ran across a volunteer set up at a table called “hands on history” where you can ask questions and handle some of the pieces; this lady was really serious about her history. She got all excited over a rock that is presumed (not sure how you would be able to authenticate something like this) used during the Stone Age, some 35,000 years old. If it was that old, it’s pretty cool, if it’s not whatever, but this lady was so overly excited about showing us what it was and how it was used and how ergonomic it was and how it was a multitasker and pretty much the greatest gadget since, well, the wheel I guess. So she was interesting to say the least.

All’s well that Ends Well at Shakespeare’s Globe

I’ve never really loved this play in any carnation it has taken, but this one was just fun. They defiantly found all of the humorous bits and ran with them. Our professor even commented on how funny this version was (this was apparently the funniest version he had ever seen). Which is pretty strange when the play is meant to be a comedy but usually it falls under the idea of “problem play”, yes it end’s “happily” (which only meant that it ended with a wedding) which constitutes it by formula as a comedy but it’s got quite a lot of questions and serious topics. The lead woman in the play, Helena, decides to choose who she wants to marry, Bercherum, who doesn’t really like her back, so he flees to Florence and joins the army. Helena then just goes after him and then tricks him into consummating the marriage, getting her pregnant and (by his terms) satisfying all of the conditions he lined out (which seem impossible when posed). So it doesn’t really seem like a happy play, there’s a lot of trickery and deception, but the lovely thing about the Globe is that they find all those cute moments and especially they played on Bercherum possibly being in love with Helena from the beginning and just running away because he doesn’t know what he’s feeling, so when the end comes and all is revealed, he is thrilled to be married, and so is she.

Met a girl named Kate from Australia there too. Stood next to each other and almost got hit in the face with swords. Had a nice convo about theatre and how there is only 3 drama schools in Australia and it’s next to impossible to get into, plus you can’t take theatre classes at normal university, which is interesting.

Friday: Wedding Day

Woke up at 5:28, my alarm was set for 5:30 so that’s an accomplishment. Got to Trafalgar Square at 7 and waited until 11 for the ceremony. Got caught behind some pretty rude guys who were probably still drunk from last night and were still drinking. But when I was walking to the square I got more and more excited for the day. There was a sort of electric charge in the air and it was so cool to be able to be a part of it, even if I was just watching the whole thing on a big screen. The whole thing was just so beautiful. Got a chance to see the fly over, in real life, they flew over me, and even the Mayor of London stopped by and gave the newlyweds a tandem bike as a wedding present (all around London you can rent bikes for a pond and they’re sponsored by Barclays Bank, this bike was one of those only Tandem). It was really cool to hear everyone’s reactions to everything, especially that dress. When Kate stepped out of that Rolls Royce, there was a slight gasp and then an “oooh!” from the whole crowd. Throughout there was these general reactions, usually to the kids involved or the overall cuteness of the Will and Catherine (she’s called Catherine now). Oh and being able to sing “Jerusalem” and “God Save the Queen” with the crowd was also a highlight at least for me. Wish I had a hat though.

Frankenstein at the National Theatre, Olivier

Adapting the Frankenstein story for stage must be hard, but Danny Boyle (yes, the Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire) really knew how to make it work. They must have had a never ending budget because the set alone was the greatest thing I have ever seen. The stage in the Olivier is on a turntable but it also can become a pit, it can raise up and do collapse half of it in order to get a whole new set on that side while a scene is going on at the same time! Simply a feat of production and stage management if I’ve ever seen one. Besides the amazing set the acting was spectacular. The interesting thing is that the actors who play the Doctor and the Creature switch every night which role they play, so sometimes one will play Doctor Frankenstein and then the other will play the Creature only the next night they switch. I saw the lovely Benidict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock) play the role of the Doctor tonight and the other actor, Johnny Lee Miller play the Creature. The play starts out with a heartbeat and the Creature emerging from a sort of womb like apparatus that is manmade clearly, for the next ten or so minutes afterwards he tries to figure out how his body works. This is all done in the nude so it you can watch every single one of his muscles work to get him to stand up off the ground. The actor had so much control over every ounce of his body, but at the same time it looked like he had no control whatsoever over it. Everything was meticulous and precise while at the same time, not. It’s hard to put into words. The play shocked, made you think, tear up and hate both the creature and the doctor in different parts while at the same time sympathizing with them. If you are in London, see this play. It is worth every penny. I am going to try and go again and see them switch parts to see how different it looks.

Tomorrow: Brighton Beach trip!