As my time here in England comes to a close I just feel a great sense of appreciation for this experience as a whole. We spent our last three days in Stratford Upon Avon. This quiet town was a nice change of pace from the busy city of London. It was a great time to reflect on the trip and my relationship with theatre. I absolutely love Shakespeare, so getting to see where he lived was pretty remarkable. We went to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, The New Place, Holy Trinity Church, and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. I learned that he had 7 siblings, and that his family lived in very close quarters. It was also very interesting learning the history of The New Place and all the different renovations and changes that were made to it in its history. I also got to see two shows in Stratford. A “Friends” themed wrestling show (I don’t really understand this because all they did was play the theme song), and “The Tempest” at Royal Shakespeare Company starring Kenneth Branagh. The wrestling show was really something else. The audience was filled with old people and young children. I guess this is what they do to entertain themselves in Stratford. The actual wrestling was pretty amateur, but it was fun just being a part of the crowd and cheering for different people. “The Tempest” had a completely different vibe from the wrestling show. While I feel that there were some weak acting moments in the show, I did genuinely enjoy it. At one point in the show the character of Ariel was flying in on her fly rig and she suddenly just stopped and started swinging back and forth. I wasn’t concerned at first, but then an ASM walked on stage and called hold. This was the first time that I’ve witnessed a professional show stop because of technical difficulties. It took 5-10 minutes to fix and then the show was back on. It was cool to see a mistake that large be handled in a show that big.
This trip has been such a dream come true. I’ve loved theatre my whole life, and have been doing it for the past five years. I’ve always wanted to see shows on Broadway or the West End but have never been able to before this. This trip has made my love of theatre and life in general even greater. I laughed, I cried, and I wouldn’t trade a second of it for the world. To finish off my final blog post I just want to recount some of my favorite memories of the trip.
- Getting to see my favorite little bear in “Paddington The Musical”
- Getting a black eye.
- Tim trying to give me another black eye every day.
- Getting to show my Thatchel the sights of London (always my most loyal companion).
- Acting as posh British ladies in the pump room in Bath.
- Watching West End legend John Owen Jones in “Into the Woods”
- Hanging out in Erin, Milly, Kailee, Belle, and Lauren’s flat every night and watching random movies and documentaries.
- Getting adopted by a random Irish family at The Wren’s Nest in Ireland.
- Seeing a brand new musical in a tiny little black box.
- Seeing Mark Rothko’s Seagram murals in person.
- And finally, getting to meet and spend time with so many amazing people.
A special thanks to Shawn, Courtney, Susan, and Tim for making this trip such an incredible time. Everyone will be sick of how much I talk about this trip in the fall.
Peace out,
Thatcher
Photo Cred: Erin Newman
Theatre in London U of A 