Starting August off with a bang

All of these super eventful days are definitely giving me a lot to write about. They're also making me tired, so I can't think of a very creative way to introduce this post - I'm just going to dive right in.

Yesterday's lectures were by two very interesting professors. We were taught in the morning by Professor Nick Groom, who was covering the "Shakespeare myth". The best way to describe him, honestly, is the perfect mixture between British gentleman and 60s hippie. He entered the classroom wearing a suit and suspenders, which was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was the ponytail that reached the small of his back. The third thing I noticed was his earring.

See what I mean? I need to steal this guy's description for some work of fiction; it's too good to pass up. (If I ever do, I'm going to delete this post and my readers will never know.)

Character description aside, the lecture was interesting as well. Prof. Groom gave us a good amount of biographical details about Shakespeare and invited us to think about why this writer became so famous despite the lack of information about him. When one considers the kind of fame that well-known writers have today (you know J.R.R. Tolkien's name, you know his works, but can you recognize his face?), it becomes even more interesting. There isn't really a right answer to the question, but we eventually decided that there's a flexibility to Shakespeare's work that allows it to be used for many different purposes and in many different cultures.

Our afternoon session centered around Shakespearean adaptations and Olivier's Macbeth, taught by Dr. Jennifer Barnes. Something that really stood out about Dr. Barnes was how her work related to the lecture - she discovered manuscripts of and documents for Olivier's unfinished Macbeth screenplay in early 2010 and recently published about it. For all of you reading from my generation, Olivier was THE cinematic authority on Shakespeare in his time. (You know how Kenneth Branagh somehow shows up in every modern adaptation of a Shakespeare play? Olivier did it first.) He starred in/directed/wrote several Shakespeare movies and had begun working on Macbeth. He never finished it due to financial reasons and claimed that no copies of the work remained. Uh...not quite true.

Dr. Barnes making that discovery was a big deal. Like NPR interview big deal. So naturally, the first hour of her lecture centered on the unfinished adaptation that she discovered and what the work-in-progress could tell us about 1) 20th century film adaptions of Shakespeare and 2) contemporary ideas of stardom. The lecture itself was great, but I was also impressed with her creative use of PowerPoint - geeky, I know, but she did a great job with it! During the second half of the class, she showed us film clips from adaptations of The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Then we discussed how they were adapted from page to screen and how the meaning of the work could change depending on how it was staged and acted. Students don't normally give professors grades, but you got an A+ from me, Dr. Barnes. Also, your polka dot dress is incredibly cute.

Even though it was 3:30 by this point in time, our day still wasn't over. Those of us on the Shakespeare track had a lecture to attend at 5 that would kick off the Exeter-Fudan Research Colloquium. We got to listen to Don Boyd discuss his work on a 'Hamlet in China' film adaptation that was ultimately never made for financial reasons, in an odd parallel to our afternoon lecture. (Actually didn't realize that until I wrote it down just now.) The best thing was being able to watch behind-the-scenes footage of things that went into the movie production such as location scouting and casting. Professor Boyd told us that things like that are normally never released to the public, so that was pretty awesome.

Finally, after a wine reception with the lecture attendees (yep, day still isn't over!), we headed over to The Ram for a buffet dinner and karaoke night. Karaoke was...interesting. It started off like this:

Normal karaoke. Tame. Just some people singing.

And ended up like this:

Karaoke insanity!

Definitely the most fun I've ever had with karaoke. Though I suppose the above picture is what you can expect when you put about 100 college students in a bar, provide them with alcohol, and then send them up to a mic...you know, just maybe. Blogger won't load my videos for whatever reason, but those are what really do this justice.

This morning we had another lecture as a part of the research colloquium, and this time we heard from one of the visiting Fudan professors. Fudan University is one of the most prestigious universities in China and the world, so that was definitely a rare opportunity. We heard from three professors in the hour and a half we were there, and all of them discussed Shakespearean adaptations - predictably, considering the subject matter. We were there from 9:30-11:30, including the 'tea and coffee break' after the first hour and a half of lectures. (That is so British. A break for tea right after breakfast...with tea.) The colloquium lasted until 5, but the Exeter Shakespeare students only attended the morning session.

The rest of the tracks had a completely free day today, so Lindy and I joined up with about twenty other Exeter kids to go to the beach at 12:15. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors - sunny and no rain, which is a big deal for English weather. We took the train to Dawlish, which is only about 15 minutes away by train, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the shore!

View of the beach from the train window

Hooray for sun! Me, Grace, and Lindy

Lindy was pretty proud of herself for braving the frigid ocean.

This adorableness deserves a picture.

View of the beach! 

The only downsides were the wind, which was determined to blow as hard as it could, and the water that was WAY too cold to swim in. I went in knee-deep and called it a day. The British know their beaches, though, and brought wind shelters to sit on the beach with. A lot of us were looking pretty enviously at them when the wind decided to blow particularly viciously. It was still a great time, though, and completely worth it! To top it all off, the Exeter student buddies knew the train station to get on where they wouldn't check us for tickets, so we got a free train ride to and from Dawlish. Free day at the beach - I call that a success.

Tomorrow we're headed to Bath, and Sunday I'll be on a train again to go to the Harry Potter studio tour in London! Can't wait for the weekend - it's going to be epic.