1. Got a bagel and smoothie from Noxy Bros.
2. Wore my Harry Styles Merch from his concert the night before.
3. Took a photo of Paddington for Pride Month.
4. Had the most FABULOUS conversation with a VA staff member about the LGBTQIA+ community.
5. Went to Leather Lane Market with Brittaney and ate the spiciest stir fry EVER.
6. Got my hair done in London, Treat yo self (I’m currently writing this post while sitting in the salon chair and sipping on wine 💅🏼)
7. Saw Brokeback Mountain with Alyssa and Amelia. And met Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges.
8. Had to pack up for Stratford Upon Avon (not looking forward to lugging my suitcases around, still not all the way done. Gotta pick up some laundry early in the morning)
9. Went to Nonna Selena for the last time!!
10. Ended the night in my feels because this city is fucking amazing and there’s so much more I want to see and do with the people on this trip.
At the Victoria and Albert Museum there was one piece of art that stuck out to me and reminded me of a show that we have seen. It really hit the nail on the head for this assignment, as it was literally the main prop of the show and the metaphor for the entire show. It’s quite literally on the nose. A painting of a ladder, I sadly cannot find the name of the piece or the artist as my photo is too blurry and it will not come up on the website anywhere. But when I saw this piece of art I instantly associated it with How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Not only did they climb up layers (only a few times might I add, I expected them to use the ladders to their advantage much more) but they also used their ladder for a conference table which I thought was very fun and creative. But the entire show is literally about climbing the ladder on success, so it had double meaning for me. Though this piece didn’t move me in any big way it was an awesome experience getting to run through the museum almost playing a treasure hunt to figure out which piece of art fit with what show. And I have plenty more I could talk about, but the ladder just made waaayyyy too much sense not to write about. But overall my favorite experience came from Alan, a sweet man who stopped Brittaney and I after we took a photo of Paddington wrapped in a Pride Flag, to chat about where we are from and LGBTQIA+ stories,politics, experiences, etc. Getting to have that conversation with him and hearing his life and his mottos were worth way more than any art exhibit, it became a living breathing art exhibit for me. And in the wise words of Alan “Fuck em all, you’re with you at the end of the day. Make sure you’re happy, all the other buggers can go to hell. Because it’s way more fun to be true to yourself”. And I think we can all learn something from Alan and maybe with his wise words we can climb up our own internal ladders to the top!
Theatre in London U of A 