So winning an Oscar for acting is probably not in my future. However, I did have a great time both in acting workshops all day yesterday and in the town of St. Ives today!
Yesterday the Shakespeare pathway had its last two acting workshops. In the morning we worked on voice, which made me feel a little bit ridiculous. Although we weren't singing (thank god - I relegate myself to shower singing only), I'm still not used to going through the scales of my voice or 'feeling the color of a vowel.' Nor am I used to contorting into different shapes on the ground and attempting to find whatever my natural voice is. It really was an interesting workshop, though, and even the most ridiculous-seeming things had some sort of purpose. Maybe I should change my major and just skip while reading Shakespeare all day instead of sitting and studying it...
I hadn't realized how much the inflection in an actor's voice conveys the meaning of the lines, or how something as little as pronouncing a vowel sound differently can change the emotion behind a word. I gained a new appreciation for actors all over again. From the outside, acting can seem easy, especially when we see random pop stars suddenly becoming actors and actresses. I know there's no possible way that I have a full conception of the job with four acting workshops, which means there's even more work that goes into it than I know - but even with the amount I've learned, my hat goes off to actors.
The second workshop of the day was 'abbreviated Shakespeare'. A great example of this is the Reduced Shakespeare Company - and if you have never heard of them, please watch this video:
Most of our academic discussion centered around whether reducing or adapting Shakespeare causes the work to lose its integrity. While the Reduced Shakespeare Company's work is certainly far off from the original, it has become a new thing that offers its own analysis and contribution to the drama world. Shakespeare's work lives on, just in a different manner.
Then we broke up into groups of around 5 (my group was Bryan, Maddy, Veronica, Juliette, and me) and attempted to condense a Shakespeare play into 5 minutes. We chose Macbeth and made Lady Macbeth sound like a New York mob boss and gave the witches the "byeeeeee!" from the Most Popular Girls in School. After performing that and receiving critique, we had one more challenge - reduce the play again...down to thirty seconds.
I think we did pretty dang well. Macbeth in thirty seconds:
The rest of Tuesday consisted of a failed shopping trip to bring back clothes from England (British sizes, what you say is a US 10 is NOT a US 10), preparing for group presentations on Friday, and watching Pride and Prejudice in one of the lecture halls. The movie was occasionally interrupted by construction outside the door, but I don't think it was really preventing any of us from sighing over Darcy. Men included.
Also, I found the most British card ever:
Today was our last day trip, and they definitely saved one of the best for last - Saint Ives! It's a beautiful fishing village in southwest England and we had perfect beach weather today. This definitely is one of my favorite day trips. First of all, just check out what the village looks like:
View of Saint Ives from the hill where we parked
Rocky coastline
Saint Ives street view
After walking around and grabbing some lunch, we went on a boat trip to the lighthouse to see seals. I think we went about three miles or so offshore and saw a ton of seals sunning themselves on the rocks and playing in the water. The boat ride itself was really fun, too - I even got to drive the boat!
My thoughts in the moment: "This man is crazy for letting me touch the wheel."
Water at the dock - it's so clear!
All smiles! Daniel, Grace, and Jenna
On the water!
View of the lighthouse
Seals! If only the iPhone had better zoom...
After the seal tour we went swimming - the water was cold, but it was still fun! I didn't stay in for very long and chose to read on the beach instead, which was just as enjoyable for me. It was uncharacteristically warm for England - I think nature must have known we were coming and wanted to give us a good last trip.
At the beach!
The rest of the day was mostly spent walking around peeking into boutiques and eating ice cream - so basically wonderful. Saint Ives was such a great choice for a day trip! We were all so exhausted by the time that we got back to Holland Hall that staying in and working on presentations actually sounded like a good idea rather than a chore. Lindy, Anu and I managed to make it fun, though - late night jam sessions to a 90s playlist will liven up any Shakespeare study session. Random fire alarms will, too, but in a much different manner.
Only two full days left here now, and we already had to say the first goodbye to Ronak today - I'm not ready for this to end.
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