Bath was a lovely reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city of London! I was feeling a bit under the weather but was determined to not let that stop me from having a good time. Our first stop were the ancient Roman Baths around which the city was built. I’ll give you one guess to figure out why the city is named Bath! This sprawling structure was built around a natural hot spring making it an obvious choice for people to settle in dating all the way back to ancient Celtic peoples. In the museum you can even drink from the springs! The water was very warm and tasted a little funky, but it was amazing to think that people thousands of years ago were drinking water from the same source. At this spring they worshipped a goddess named Sulis, who they connected both to the natural spring and the sun. Then, the Romans came.

As the Romans were wont to do, they quickly overtook the settlement which they turned into a town called Aquae Sulis. This is when the Roman Baths that we got to see were built – around 60 or 70 CE. The baths were more than just a place to bathe; they also held a temple to the goddess Sulis Minerva who was a combination of the aforementioned Sulis and the Roman goddess Minerva. The artifact that pulled me in the most was this temple pediment.

As you can see, not all of the pediment has survived, but some wonderful artists have completed a rendition of what it probably would have looked like that was projected over the missing areas (theatre is everywhere!). The pediment itself tells the story of Rome’s overtaking of Aquae Sulis. On either side there is a winged Victory, which is convincing evidence of some sort of battle or conflict in which the Romans came out on top. Getting closer towards the center, there are wreaths of oak leaves that evoke similar wreaths that were presented to victorious commanders in ancient Rome. Finally, in the center there is the face of a man with hair spread out all around himself, almost as if he was partially submerged. Upon closer look, the hair is not, in fact, all hair. There are snakes woven in, which leads scholars to believe this is a gorgon. Gorgons were deeply associated with the goddess Minerva (in Greek mythology, Athena) who both created the gorgons – most famously Medusa – and had Perseus seek vengeance against them – again, most famously Medusa. This is the final nail in the coffin to prove that Romans had taken control of Aquae Sulis. An unarguable symbol of their goddess was now at the entrance to the baths.

The rest of the baths were incredibly cool! I loved seeing all of the coins they had fished out, the ways that they had set up the plumbing for overflow water, and these stacks of stones upon which tile floors were once laid.

After the baths I had a slow afternoon. As I said earlier, I wasn’t feeling the best, so I spent some time in a park and some time in a pub. It was lovely and calm, something we haven’t experienced too much of since arriving in London (I’m definitely not complaining, though!!).

To finish off our trip we had afternoon tea in the Pump Room back at the baths. It was so fun and I felt so proper! My cotillion training definitely kicked back in, and I kept having to remind myself to keep my hands and elbows off the table. All in all, a very successful day trip!

I had very little expectation for what awaited us in Bath. I was far more focused on Bath as a home of Jane Austen instead of the Roman Baths the city was named for. As soon as we stepped off the train it was obvious just how unique bath was. The architecture feels ancient, it almost feels like the train was a time machine. If it weren’t for the crowds of people holding cell phones and moving with the speed and ferocity of the 21st century I would have believed we were in a different time. Columns cover the fronts of the shops feeling so Roman that I could have believed we were in Italy. The architecture felt Roman on the first floor and then very British up the rest of the buildings. This melding of ancient and classical architecture should have felt confusing, but in Bath it just makes sense.

As I said earlier, the Roman Baths were not the draw of Bath for me, and quite frankly they were overcrowded and I found it hard to enjoy the museum being pushed around by unaware tourists who refused to watch where they were going. I found a moment of refuge in a mostly empty side room dedicated to the information on Minerva Sulis. I’m very familiar with Roman and Greek mythology, and know quite a bit about the goddess Minerva, but had never heard a surname. I was immediately intrigued. This room is where I spent most of my time in the baths. Minerva Sulis is a goddess is specific to Celtic polytheism which was only practiced in Great Britain. She was a local goddess only celebrated in the thermal springs in bath. The baths we explored are her one and only temple. She was celebrated as a goddess of healing, both physical and mental. It is said the thermal springs were blessed by her and bathing in the waters would bring whatever cure you were looking for. Her cult practiced in the temple until mid fourth century CE. There were several parts of the ruins of the altar that lead us to believe that worshipping the goddess required sacrifices. There was also a place where it assumed people laid down significant offerings to the goddess. These ranged from coins, gemstones, jewelry, and curse tablets. There are 130 curse tablets that were recovered in the baths, curse tablets, I learned, were a way of asking the goddess specific requests, whether that be the return of items that were stolen or lost, or revenge on someone for some level of wrongdoing. Most of what we know about the Cult of Minerva Sulis is conjecture as most of the relics of her are said to have been destroyed by barbarians in the 5th century.

All in all I enjoyed my time in the baths, the overwhelming crowds aside. There is so much wonder is walking through the ruins of an ancient world that almost doesn’t feel real. As if it’s so old it’s out of the grasp of my understanding of time. In most ways it couldn’t feel more different than London. The cobblestone walkways, the ancient architecture, the almost non existent roadways for cars. But there was a Slim Chickens, and a Primark, and a Boots, which sometimes would be very jarring. Bath has become an amalgamation of the ancient and the modern. On one street you’re transported back in time, and then you turn the corner and it feels like you’re in a square in London. Bath has become a city that has it all, a modern age pub, ancient Roman ruins, the home of Jane Austen, and everything in between.

Bath! Bath! Bath! What a wonderful place is Bath! Our first day trip has come and gone and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. We were hit with the overwhelming history of this place the moment we arrived, as we walked straight out of the train station to the Roman baths. We each were given little phone-like listening devices and then went on our merry way following along with the stories of the baths. One of the most shocking and interesting things I learned in the first moment of the tour was that these baths were uncovered. I, wrongly, assumed that they had always been a fixture of this city and just stayed as everything else warped and changed. To learn that these baths were merely a hypothesis for so long, just to be eventually uncovered was fascinating. I also enjoyed learning about the architect and how the influence of his time shaped the baths to how we see them now. The rest of the tour was informative, beautiful, and fun. I did drink the water at the end of the tour, which I don’t necessarily recommend to anyone. I didn’t hear the warning of the person from my audio device say that it had a “distinct taste” before I went up, filled up my cup, and took a huge sip of it. I immediately regretted that. I tasted very salty and minerally, and that wasn’t something that I personally loved. If you want water that tastes like it has come straight from the cracks of stone, it’s perfect, or maybe just take a tiny sip.

After the Roman bath house I walked around for a while, went to a charity shop, and got loaded fries with vegan chili (it was wonderful!). I then met Claire, Sarah, and Reece at a pub and we all sat around and talked for a while. Bath overall is much quieter than London, and significantly mroe pedestrian friendly, so it made zipping between all the different places super easy. After our time at the pub, I quickly popped over to the Jane Austen Center to pick up a few gifts from the gift shop. I was actually quite disappointed because a lot of the “special edition” books they were selling were the exact ones you could get in Barnes and Nobles and Waterstones, but I found some non-books and a bit more unique gifts for the people at home who I was shopping for. 

Then we all met up as one big group and got to do what is probably my favorite thing so far, the pump room. We first walked into the fanciest room and sat down to a very formal place setting, where they had us pick out our tea. I picked Jane Austen tea because it reminded me of my sister, and it was wonderful. Then, I was surprised with vegan food!! I got my own tea tower full of AMAZING little foods. I had scones with whipped butter and strawberry jam that I could’ve kept eating forever. There was also a pea pastry thing that was delicious and a chocolate cupcake that was to die for. I tried crème brulé for the first time, which was lime flavored. Overall, 10/10. There are some hilarious photos of the shock and joy on my face when the food came out because I was so overwhelmed and didn’t expect it at all. None of us thought we were going to be eating, just getting tea, so the surprise was great. 

We then said our goodbyes to Bath and hopped back on the train to London. It was a very short stay but a highlight of the trip so far!

If you know anything about me, you know that I am an extremely emotional human being. So as I walked through the ancient ruins of Roman Bath, I was struck with so many thoughts and feelings. The primary thought that continued to circle my brain as I made my way through the museum was this: I am not the first queer person to walk through these ruins or be in this exact space. I felt a strong sense of reverence for all of the people who came before me. Not tourists that have visited the site, but the ancient people who’s daily life included a trip to the Bath Spa. As I thought about these people, whose lives I was now only seeing remnants of, I couldn’t help but think about how many of them were queer. We know that queer people existed during this time, because queer people have always existed and will always exist. Maybe it is my extremely hyperactive imagination, but I found it extremely easy to walk through these ruins and picture what life would have been like in the ancient Roman Baths. I also can imagine that being queer in that time period, whether they had the words for it back then or not, was an extremely challenging and hard thing to navigate. Queer people have come so far in their fight for equality, but I think the reminder that there are centuries and centuries of life that have come before me was both inspiring and terrifying.

  I’ve always felt connected to ancient civilizations, and being able to physically be in the place where ancient people lived reminded me just how little time we have on this earth, but how amazing it is that we have the technology to remember people forever. I’ve always been a big proponent of knowing all that has come before you to make the best art that you can and create a better future for those that come after you. I think that is just what Bath did. It reminded me just how amazing it is that the universe chose to put me on this planet, at this place, in this moment in time. I don’t think I expected to love Bath as much as I did. Everyone always says that this trip will change your life, and the art that you create. I do believe that I am starting to feel myself change, and I can’t wait to see what stories I tell.

– R

CW: image of a freshly excised sheep liver. (I know that sounds nuts but bear with me here.)
About midway through my journey touring the baths and exclusively listening to the blue numbers, I realized yet again that I have free will and could listen to the audios for children. And boy oh boy was that the right decision. The man in this version sounded much more enthused to be telling me neat little facts, and not to be dramatic or anything, but I’d probably enlist to fight in some war if he asked me to. At one point he informed me about some stone with a man’s name on it. I don’t specifically recall what role the man had in society (my brain wants to say priest??), but I remember that people came to him to request that he look for signs and predict the future. He also looked at animal entrails to tell the future, which is the most fascinating thing ever and I genuinely cannot believe I’ve never heard of that before. The proper term for this practice is Haruspicy, and it’s unfortunately a little too vague for my taste. By that, I mean I wanted to find some sort of academic source that explored what exactly was looked for in certain organs and what that meant (and I mean down to each vein size and discoloration, but a decent amount of articles that I read just vaguely covered this and lamely answer the question with “the Haruspex’s gut feeling”. That’s not nealy enough information! Anyway, it seems that most of the predicting was determined from the presence and shape of the processus pyramidalis (B) and the processus papillaris (C). If the processus pyramidalis was missing, that was interpreted as a bad omen. A duplicate of either of those protrusions, however, indicated a promise of prosperity. Isn’t that neat?

Bath, in general, was BEAUTIFUL from what I saw. The train ride there had sights that reminded me a lot of home: Blue skies, green fields specked with flowers and framed with trees, etc. The only difference being the hills and visually appealing architecture along the way. Honestly, the train ride may have been my favorite part of the day. But I also just love train rides. 

As for art, I only have one sketch to show. I’ve been trying to improve on my animal portraits, because people keep asking me to paint/draw their pets for them?? Which is so foreign to me, and I don’t want to give them some monstrosity that’s the most anatomically incorrect thing you’ve ever seen. So anyway, hit me up if you want a little pet portrait I guess.

Okay, that’s all. Peace!!

I found ‘My Master Builder,’ to be the ultimate case of a show with heaps of lost potential. There were so many different avenues the story could’ve taken, and so many interesting plot points that could’ve been explored which were left discarded and treated as throwaway lines that failed to add sufficient meaning to the storyline.

Although the show lacked drastically in the structural and thematic aspects, the worst part of the show was the writing. The dialogue was very unnatural and mostly depicted the exact emotions the characters felt instead of having nuance and hidden meanings within the text. The combination of modern terminology with poetic language felt unusual and misplaced.

Ewan McGregor and Elizabeth Debicki, both portraying the main characters Henry and Hilda in My Master Builder recited their lines as though they were chanting in a monotone chorus. Their performances didn’t stand out and their chemistry severely lacked. I felt as though I was watching two accomplished actors performing with no passion for the work, completely indifferent and simply mediocre. I wasn’t in the slightest bit convinced that these characters had been pining for one another, missing each other for years. All the baggage that came with their past was spoken of but the consequences and the pain weren’t justly demonstrated through their tone, delivery, movements, and facial expressions.

The blocking between certain instances also felt unmotivated and unconvincing. For instance, when Hilda walks in slow strides toward Henry, it doesn’t feel calculated, careful, or seductive; it feels stiff. Henry’s character, although not constructed well by the playwright, still kept enough room for interpretation on Ewan Mcgregor’s behalf who chose to convey nothing in his mannerisms except for the explicit written directions. 

Everything was displayed for the audience and yet nothing was left to discover. Instead of feeling like I was taken through a narrative journey with well-paced development with clear motivations behind the character’s intentions, I was left unsatisfied. 

This done pissed me off. I could end the blog post here! If you’re my family, you might want to skip this one. I’m going to be talking about weird sex politics…it’s the shows fault, not mine!

I was initially really excited to see the show. The poster said something about Succession, which is a show I’m fond of, and it had Ewan McGregor! Obi-Wan Kenobi! Boy oh boy, I wish I was watching the Star Wars prequels (which, for the record, I don’t think are bad movies). His performance was just so bland. It felt like he was reading the lines for the first time. I think this is mostly the scripts fault, but I’ll get there all in due time. Elizabeth Debicki’s performance had a similar meh-ness to it as McGregors. I’m trying to think of something to say about her but…nothing.

Kate Fleetwood, however, stole the show. She took the stilted, strange dialogue and made me believe her character in all her eccentrics would genuinely talk like that. At least when she was on stage, I was having fun in a way you want to have fun in the theater.

So…the script…I’m a writer 🤓 and this was just textbook bad writing. The dialogue between the characters was so bad. Like, genuinely no other way I could put it than bad. People just don’t talk the way these characters talk, and maybe if one character talked like that it would be fine…but everyone? Through all this metaphor and purple prose? Give me a break. The timeline and story were muddled, confusing…it was just BAD. GUYS. IT WAS JUST HORRID. I’M GETTING TO A POINT WHERE THATS ALL I CAN SAY.

Moving on to the uncomfortable part (if you’re my family and you did not heed my first warning, you can dip out now or skip this paragraph), sex and sexuality played a role in this show but…for what. It felt like shock factor, just meant to scandalize you that Debicki is talking about getting bent over or getting on her knees. Notably, all the vulgar sex talk came from her, the beautiful young woman! Hmm…I do not like. I also don’t like the implication that her experience being groomed by McGregor’s character is what made her someone into dominant/submissive, BDSM relations. Perhaps our playwright thought she was replacing Hilda’s original manipulation in Ibsen’s show with a sort of sexual manipulation here, but it just didn’t work for me. It felt like someone had the hots for Debicki and wanted to hear her say lines directly from a Wattpad smut fanfic written by a 14 year old with no sex education.

Something I did like was the set and lighting design. The set was just beautiful, and I really felt transported to the Hamptons (anywhere but that damn theater watching that show I’ll take), and the lighting was just so interesting. I’m not a tech person, so I’m not the girl you talk to about this, but I was thinking “pretty light go pop like firework”. I don’t have much to say about the sound design. A lot of the non-diegetic sound seemed like the play was trying to be a movie. Once again, not the girl you talk to about that.

The ending. WHAT THE HELL WAS EVEN THAT! When McGregor’s character falls, you can literally see him slide down his rope to his spot. Then bro just dies. Like I guess that would kill you…

In the final moments, he reaches to the middle distance and says “My…Hilda” before he kicks the bucket as Debicki stands to the back of the stage just staring at him die. I literally tossed my hands at this. The parallel to My Master Builder and “my Hilda” was SO OBVIOUS I felt like this woman was waterboarding me. Maybe this would’ve been earned if she was the manipulator she was in the original version, but she just wasn’t. She was just there. The wife? Just there. McGregor? Just there. The other two characters who I didn’t even bother to mention? Just there. At this point, I’m wishing I fell off the chapel. Mercy.

If the playwrights intention was to center the women of Ibsen’s original story, she did a bad job. Every time those two interacted and I thought something would actually happen, nothing came of it. In a way, she stripped their agency and centered McGregor in their lives even more! Ladies, are we not tired? You know how long the Bechdel test has been around?

I’m so done. I can’t do this anymore. At least Wyndham’s Theatre was beautiful. I should’ve gotten the overpriced drink at the bar.

The next show on our docket was My Master Builder which is a modern adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play The Master Builder. We had read the source material prior to coming to London and so I had a pretty great grasp on what I was about to see. The show follows Henrik, a renowned architect who’s marriage is falling apart. When one of his former students, whom he also had an affair with shows up to his house, everything starts to unravel. It is a play about power, and greed, and what lengths humans will go to stay in control. After reading the source material, I was really excited to see how they were going to adapt the show for a more modern audience. Needless to say, this was not my favorite play that we have seen.

            Ewan McGreggor, of Moulin Rouge and Star Wars fame starred in the piece as the Titular character. Needless to say, I was very disappointed my McGreggor’s performance. My main problem with this show is that the source material is a revenge play. Hilda (the student) comes back to visit her narcissistic abuser in order to take back the power from him and make sure that he is punished for what he did to her. This was one of the biggest things that I loved about the source material. That conflict was so nuanced and messy, which lended itself very well to Ibsen’s writing. But in this modern adaptation, that conflict was nonexistent. The text felt unnatural, with McGreggor’s performance not doing a very good job of hiding the fact that he was working with a lack luster script. On a more positive note, my favorite performance from the night came from Kate Fleetwood, who played Elena, Henrik’s wife who is trying to save their marriage. I thought Fleetwood’s performance was by far the most grounded, and I had the easiest time believing her in her interactions with the other characters.

            I also thought that one of the strongest parts of the show was the Production Design. The Set, Lighting, and Costume designs were all quite successful. I loved the contrast of the modern glass staircase that then was revealed to be Henrik’s masterpiece Cathedral, with the older, exposed brick that served as a floorboard for much of the play’s action. I thought that the lighting design was impeccable. I loved the way the light bounced off of the glass, I thought it was really great reflection of Henrik’s inner struggle. I thought that the costume design did a great job of conveying status and given circumstances, while making sure that the actors were separated enough visually from the set pieces.

            While I definitely did not love this production by any means and definitely would not see it again, I am a firm believer that all theatre is worth seeing, even the bad shows. So I am glad I saw it.

      -R

Going into My Master Builder I was a bit cautious. I’m always nervous when there is stunt casting involved. A show cannot live or die on one actor alone and I feel like sometimes having a massive star power in the room can suck up the space for everyone else. I am happy to say that’s not the case here. In a strange turn of events, Ewan McGregor actually faded into the background, even while in the lead role. My first reaction was to immediately blame the actor, that he was resting on the laurels of being the Ewan McGregor and not putting in the work. But upon further reflection, I do believe that the issue is much larger. The script.

Ibsen’s The Master Builder was a beautiful piece of work that depicted an ego maniac at the beginning of his downfall. The carefully planned infrastructure of Solness’s life is starting to crumble. His career is beginning to decline, he has Ragnar who is working his way up the architectural firm. He has the confidence to bring his mistress into his home with his wife and believe he will never be caught. His marriage to Aline is falling a part, as I said his mistress is in his home, and he and Aline are still reeling from the loss of their twin boys. All this creates beautiful tension and a ticking time bomb. One wrong move and the whole structure could cave in on itself. The play feels like an architectural masterpiece in that way.

In Lila Raicek’s adaptation she was trying to bring the women of Ibsen’s play to the forefront. Ibsen wrote incredibly progressive female characters for his time period. But his women were usually forced into these progressive behaviors because of a man’s choices. In Raicek’s adaptation she put the women so far in the foreground that we lost sight of Henry completely. Instead of seeing Aline as this woman who had been dragged around by a domineering husband who was parading his mistress in front of her. We get Aline, the vicious and cruel business woman who steps all over her husband and will plow down anyone who gets in her way. Raicek also paints a world where women are fighting each other instead of their oppressor, which should have been Henry, but there was no fire in his character. He was not written as the villain he was supposed to be, and in some scenes it doesn’t feel like he was written to be anything other than a bystander. She takes Kaia and Hilda and pits them against Aline, this doesn’t put the women at the forefront of the story, it paints them all as villains. Kaia and Hilda hate Aline with a ferocity that does not feel earned. There is zero attempt to understand Aline when she is trying to apologize to Hilda. She was a woman who had lost her son due to her husband’s negligence, then 10 months later finds out that he has an inappropriate relationship with one of his students. I’m not justifying Aline’s choices to attempt to ruin Hilda’s career. But was what I am saying is that if this play was truly focusing on the women, Hilda would have at least given a moment of understanding to Aline and her decisions. What I was desparately craving was a moment for the women to come together and realize they all deserve better than how the men in their lives are treating them, and they can come together to heal and plot revenge on their oppressors. Instead, we receive a script where the women were catty and vicious almost for no point. Henry’s character was so small that it felt like they were all fighting over nothing.

All in all I think the designers and the actors did as much as they could with what they were given. I think there is absolutely a version of a modern adaptation of The Master Builder that could be successful, this just wasn’t it.

So many thoughts and at the same time – almost none.

I left this theater feeling genuinely so confused / uncomfortable / troubled? It was a very strange two hours. Overall, I just felt like there wasn’t much of a story or an impact. I am not a believer that every single shows goal is to have you leave the theater and feel inspired to go out in the world and do something amazing, or even feel like you gained really anything from the show – some shows really are just good fun, and when theyre over, you had a nice time and you leave it at the theater. This show was different, though. I felt like they were trying to make a point, but kept missing it, and not just an inch but by a mile. I also felt like when I left, I was just completely confused about what I had spent the last two hours watching. I didnt have fun, and I didnt walk away with a totally inspired mindset, so in my mind, there wasnt much to be super excited about. I thought the woman who played Elena, Kate Fleetwood, did a great job and was the only character who I believed. The others, such as Ewan McGregor, Elizabeth Debicki, David Ajala, and Mirren Mack seemed to fade into the backround for me. Ewan McGregor – I dont know if I personally expected more from him or if I had just heard that he was a good actor so I thought he would be the leading force of the show? But I felt like the characters of Kaia and Ragnar were so irrevelant as a pair. Ragnar was slightly relevant just as he was used as a manipulation tactic for Elena, but truly his relationship with Kaia meant nothing and didnt seem to move the story along in any way. I felt bad for the other ensemble members who were on stage for two minutes, and I couldnt really see why they were needed. As for design and lighting and costume, I thought they actually did a great job. The costumes were beautiful and very symbolistic, especially for Elena and Hilda. The lighting was well done, very simple. The set was nice, very stark and sterile, but I thought it was a nice touch for the adaptation. Overall, I truly am so indifferent – even though I thought it was bad – I didnt really feel much about it after I left the theater. I was mostly just glad it was over.

Its good to see bad theater! I am thankful that good theater and bad theater alike exist. It makes the world so much more interesting.

xo, jo