Acting Part 2 and St. Ives

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.

First classes!

The first two days of classes are done and the weekend has arrived!

Since class has officially started, the pace of our days has slowed down a bit - something for which I think we're all grateful. I actually motivated myself to get up and go for a run through campus yesterday morning before lecture and it was well worth my time. England has perfect running weather and the campus and city themselves are gorgeous - there's always something to look at while running, so you're never bored. The only downside to running in Exeter is all of the hills. This Midwestern girl did not know the meaning of hills. My calves are hurting.

Our first class was from 9:30-12 yesterday and was an introduction lecture by Dr. Victoria Sparey, who began by insisting with a huge smile that we call her Vicky. She's very energetic and clearly passionate about what she's teaching - when I walked into the classroom a few minutes early she had already gotten into a discussion with another student about the production of Macbeth that we'd seen. Plus, rather than just stand there and talk at us for 2.5 hours, she made sure to promote discussion and encouraged us to present our own opinions on everything. She's the main coordinator of our track and is a really interesting lecturer, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy each section she teaches!

After a quick break for lunch, during which I had my first steak pasty, we returned to the same classroom in the business school for a lecture on Shakespeare's Genres by Prof. Philip Schwyzer. (Every track takes classes in the business school building since it was very recently built and has the best facilities.) It was interesting to learn the different manner in which genre was interpreted when Shakespeare was actually writing the plays. For example, to be considered a comedy, a play didn't have to actually be funny - it only had to contain a heterosexual marriage. While the lecture was definitely interesting, I think my favorite part of the class was getting into groups and rewriting A Midsummer Night's Dream so that it was a tragedy rather than a comedy.

We finished class at 3:15 and had a rather laid-back afternoon until 6, when everyone headed over to The Ram, the student pub, for our scheduled pub quiz night. The summer school had a buffet set up for us, so we ate dinner, divided into teams of ten, and then it was game on! The trivia pulled from everywhere since we come from every continent but Antarctica, so it was definitely not like any trivia night/pub quiz that I'd ever been to. We had a really great team and ended up getting third place!

Team Can't Touch This.

Friday's classes began with a lecture on Shakespeare and the Supernatural from Prof. Marion Gibson. The representations of the supernatural in literature have always intrigued me, so I found that lecture particularly interesting. We focused on specific scenes from Macbeth and The Tempest in groups and analyzed how the portrayal of the supernatural in each scene corresponds to both Shakespeare's attitude towards the supernatural and the general public's understanding of and attitude towards it. Getting background information and context really changed my reading of both plays.

Our afternoon session was with Victoria Sparey again, who was leading a play-specific session on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The majority of this class was discussion, and I am really enjoying hearing from all of my classmates on this track. Not only is everyone extremely intelligent and excited to be here, but people bring their own interpretations of the literature based on their home culture and experiences. It really gave a new meaning to something said in the introductory lecture yesterday - there is not Shakespeare, there are Shakespeares, and endless different interpretations that can completely change the meaning of the work at hand. Every track certainly benefits from a variety of viewpoints, but I feel like due to the nature of literature - there is always something new to be discovered and a new way to read the text - the Shakespeare track may benefit the most. 

Discussing with people here is something else that I've loved so far. For example, a group of us went to a nearby pub tonight for a quick drink and to chat. Though we came back early, I ended up in a conversation about the differing experiences with race and prejudice in the U.S. and Canada for at least half an hour on the pavilion of our hall. We're all taking this opportunity to learn from each other, and it's that, I think, that is most rewarding. 

We're headed on a day trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury bright and early tomorrow morning - sorry, Facebook friends, I'm about to blow up your newsfeed yet again.