Yesterday was our last Sunday in London. I know, it was extremely sad to think about. The bright side of things was that we had been blessed with four beautifully sunny and warm Sundays, and we had basically completed everything on our list of things to do in London!
Yesterday, we went back to Camden Market for breakfast/lunch at the food market. Okay, so it was more like dessert but that's what vacations and trips are for, right? Maggie got herself a Churro and I, a banana drenched in chocolate and marshmallows. (Mom and Dad, you're gunna have to put me on a diet when I get back!)
This was the breakfast of champions.
After breakfast, we took the bus back towards our apartment and stopped at Oxford Street to visit the Disney Store and a few other shops to look for souvenirs. We weren't too successful, but we did get cute pictures with Mickey dressed as a British soldier! (As well as with Tinkerbell, duh.)
We then went to TCR Bar which stands for Tottenham Court Road Bar for a late lunch/early dinner. I have had a full english breakfast, a traditional English dinner dish (Hunter's Chicken), and now it was time to try a Jacket Potato. Basically, a Jacket Potato is a huge baked potato that you can get with all sorts of toppings. I chose to get mine with Chili, which was an EXCELLENT choice.
After a delicious late lunch/dinner, we made our way down to Euston Station to buy our train tickets to get to the Harry Potter studio tour. Our tour slot was from 6-6:30, but the studios were a little of the ways out of London, so we had to be prepared to leave by 4. We bought our commuter rail tickets for the 16:35 (4:35) and stood in front of the big board, which reminded me of Penn Station, which then reminded me of the journey I will be taking five days a week for the next six months. Bummer. ANYWAYS, we got on the train and twenty minutes later, we had arrived at Watford Junction. From Watford Junction, we then had to board a completely Harry Potter decked-out double decker bus, which took us on the next twenty-minute leg of the trip. Finally, about an hour later, we had arrived at Leavesden Studio where the official Harry Potter film series had been produced.
The self-guided tour is projected to take around three hours; beginning with a video montage that highlights scenes from all eight of the major motion-pictures. Yes, I had chills (the first time of many in the following three hours.) We then were lead into Lot J, which began with the grand entrance into THE Great Hall of Hogwarts. It was amazing. We then were lead through another pair of doors which brought us through the sets of Hagrid's Hut, Gryffindor Common Room, the Boy's Dormitory, Ministry of Magic, Potions, The Burrow, and so so so many more. There were so many original props such as all of the Horcruxes, the Triwizard Cup, wigs, etc, etc. It was also a very special day to be at the studios because it was the last day that they had some of the animal actors from the films there! We got to see Fang, Crookshanks, Trevor, and even the kittens in the plates of Dolores Umbridge's office!
After lot J, we were brought out to the backlot, where they had such sets as the Hogwarts Bridge, the Knightbus (which is SO much cooler after knowing the London bus system), 4 Privet Drive, and Hagrid's motorcycle. They also sold Butterbeer which I obviously tried and was worth every penny, or should I say pence? Hehehe.
After the backlot, we then went into Lot K, which touched a lot more on the creatures of the films. We saw a lot of dummies, animatronics, green screens, etc. We also got the chance to walk down Diagon Alley (ah!) and even got to see Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The end of the tour brought us to a huge room that had a gigantic model of Hogwarts castle in it. For those of you who didn't know, they used this replica of Hogwarts for many of the aerial view scenes, etc. and to add computer effects to. While you're in the room, the lighting changes to mimic daytime and nighttime. This was my absolute favorite part of the tour, and I could have sat there all day staring at this castle that basically embodied my whole entire childhood within it.
Those people at Harry Potter knew what they were talking about with the tour time, because by the time we found ourselves on the next train back to London, it was 9:00 and we had spent three hours reliving our magical childhoods. I could not have been in a happier mood. That is until I got these emails from Charlie:
Final Project
You are creating a short theater piece. It should be no longer than 15 minutes. The structure should be a play with five acts. Be specific about how time works in your piece and how you communicate the passage of time. Between each of the five “acts” there should be a transition/scene change. Be careful of how you accomplish that – it’s part of the performance. You may use the space in any way you like, and may move the audience depending on where you’d like them. You may use props, but nothing unsanitary or unsafe and nothing that can make a mess.
Basic rules: No unsafe or inappropriate touch/contact. No one should be in any danger of being injured. No one should feel in any way personally violated. There is no leader – the group must collaborate and team direct as equal partners. Say “Yes” as much as possible. Work efficiently and respectfully. Make sure everyone is visible. When you make others look good, you make yourself look good. You must schedule time to rehearse. Respect your group, show up to rehearsal ready to work. Keep track of the time and maximize it. You are not allowed to miss the show on Tuesday night so plan rehearsal accordingly. And don’t talk about it too much, get up on your feet and make discoveries together in the moment. Build the piece physically and play together. Attend to elements of time, place, relationship and story so that we are oriented. If you want to confuse us, make that a specific choice and decide on the moments of confusion and moments of orientation. Be physically and vocally brave. The language can be muscular, the performance can be gutsy, the choices and action should be clear and visible.
Theme/Title: The Journey
Ingredients:
-Each piece must have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
-Each person must have at least one dramatic/dynamic entrance and exit. These entrances and exits may be solo or shared.
-Surprising reveal of a person.
-Revelation of an object in a way that is unexpected/illuminating/changes how we see the object (it essentially becomes something else through endowment).
-Three objects must be used that are from the UK, culturally specific, and recognizable.
-Everyone must speak.
-Text may be chosen from your scenes, the sonnets, poem and song you’ve worked on in George’s class (but not the individual sonnets you are preparing to perform), or from any of the readings.
*Note: even if you choose material from the readings to use as text, the scene can not be about an acting class, voice class, or the like. The point of the exercise is not to comment on itself, but to tell a story in a way that is immediate, theatrical, and dynamic.
-Full 60 seconds of continuous, simultaneous talking at hyper-speed. (This will require that you use previously memorized text).
-A dynamic adjustment to the rhythm.
-A dance break of 15 – 75 seconds.
-Two moments of uncomfortable silence.
-A sound that comes from an unexpected place/source.
-A broken expectation.
-A passionate kiss.
-A sudden argument, which stops as abruptly as it began (like a summer storm).
-Use of a word from another language.
-A guilty pleasure.
-At least one moment where one performer is working in counterpoint to another. Be creative.
-One person must sing for 15-45 seconds. It should be either very quiet or very loud and may or may not interrupt the action of the scene.
-“Borrow” something from one of the plays we have seen and use it effectively… whether it’s an image, stage picture, plot device or storyline, relationship, etc… You get to choose, but it should be both prominent and seamlessly incorporated into your narrative.
So not only do I have to memorize Sonnet 43 and present it for George's class, but I have to compose a short composition by Wednesday. Which is in like a day and a half. Yes, wish me luck.
More to follow on this challenge...
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