While browsing the guardian website on Sunday I came across an article that really made my blood boil! The article was exposing a new book out next week called 'Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr Good Enough' With a title like that it sounds like a best seller but not for the right reasons ! The article looks at the authors belief that women shouldn't look for a man they feel a deep connection with , instead settle because other wise they will end up lonely ! The author then blames feminism for women believing they can have it all !" It is not just feminism that has betrayed women by telling them they could have it all, said Gottlieb: every book, film and television show that perpetuates the myth of combining romantic love with a happy-ever-after ending – from Jane Austen to Friends – has done women a great and dangerous disservice." For one how does feminism and the later statement go hand in hand? Her comment about friends I admit is somewhat relevant ,but we have to look at the before hand where did the idea for the happy ending come from and why always is it the women looking for the perfect man ? I know , I know its in our nature to have children and pair off but why ? there is nothing wrong with not having children and its cruel how women who choose not to have children are looked down upon in society !
OK , so I am ranting but I feel blogging is a good place to let the emotion out ! But unfortunately I haven't finished. The earthquake in haiti is a terrible disaster with so many dead and so many peoples lives ruined , it really makes you take stock of how lucky we are and makes you think how can I help... well you would think! But the politician Nick Griffin has other ideas ,Griffin said, "Sending aid to rioting ingrates while our own people die is stinking elite hypocrisy." This is utterly disgraceful , calling someone ungrateful and riotous when these peoples society has collapsed around them is utterly disgraceful! So I write this comment to urge people to vote other wise the B.M.P will win more seats, not enough people our age vote , we are luckily enough to have the right to vote so please use it wisely because every vote matters!
Right OK so back on to drama ! Its so scary to think that this is my last semester at st.Marys , where does the time go?! So its been rather busy lately trying to organise the Ham House project in the summer and delegating jobs. My Job is in fundraising which I am looking forward too and have already started emailing people and finding out about grants. We are thinking of holding a night in the s.u which I am keen to make an event rather than a social. The Project itself is really taking shape with its numerous choirs which will help create a real sense of community on the day. Zoe's procession idea has gone down a treat and its been decided that it will start at Ham common with everyone then walking to the house. Its going to be quite a day and I am keen to get the other years involved so we can have our own st.Marys community there too!
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Friday 16th - cooking up a storm !
We had been invited by the lovely Louis to visit the school he was the headteacher of , so off we went on another action packed day courtesy of spiral. Now I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous , I don't speak a word of Spanish and was worried about communicating with the children, but I needn't have worried. As soon as we entered the classroom we were greeted with handmade Christmas cards from the children. Zoe used her Powers of persuasion ( her beautiful smile) got everyone up on their feet and began to teach them songs and games. I noticed that some young boys were not joining in so I ventured over with the idea that I could somehow entertain them, so they could feel as involved as the rest. I managed to ask the classroom assistant for paper and pens and set about writing my name on paper and drawing and encouraging the children to do the same. Soon it didn't matter about the language barrier as me and the little boys were off creating artistic masterpieces! I really enjoyed working with the little boys as it was a challenge at first but also very enjoyable , it made me think of my time at Strathmoore school earlier in the year and how much I loved it and working with characters such as Kaz!
After our visit to the school me and Zoe and ' Shotgun'carol headed to Lupa for our final food supplies. We were shopping to get the ingredients to make an English feast for 14 people so we had to get everything right. When we were talking to Carol in the car it was obvious the passion she has for her job as she told us about her life in Spiral and the work she does. With our shopping trolley filled to the max we headed back to the village for rehearsal.
The dress rehearsal was an event in itself as so many new people arrived , so it was hugging and kissing all round. However amongst the chaos a show began to form and we began to see how things would take form for the next day. After our rehearsal we all had our jobs to do in the cooking of the feast. I myself was in charge of gravy which I made from scratch with the helpful guidance of chef supreme , Chris ! Once all the food was cooked we all gathered around the table for a feast like no other! The feast was filled with delicious food, laughter and wine all in all a perfect evening. Me and my fellow students had been working on a song as a creative way to say thank you to Spiral for their hospitality and giving us the opportunity to work with them. We sang our own interpretation of ' the 12days of Christmas' an wrote a song called ' Thank you , Beliva' for the villagers. After our sing song it was time for bed as Saturday was show day and bound to be mad !
Saturday 19th
We spent the day making final adjustments to the space and cleaning up basically getting prepared for the evenings events. As usual we had our siesta and delicious meal but we didn't have long because we had to be back and ready to go for the evenings two performances. As part of the play they had real food on the table which we later got to sample but in the mean time we had to make sure none of it got eaten before hand. We all had jobs to do and mine and Hannah's was sound , which wasn't as complicated as we thought luckily we only had to press a button. Even though we weren't actually in it I did still get nervous for the actors as for many of them they had never acted before. The show was a complete success we had more than capacity in the hall and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show as did the actors. Their was such characters in the show that it was their personality and enthusiasm that really brought the show to life. After two fantastic performances we began to pack away but the villagers wouldn't let us instead we all drank champagne and sampled their delicious food instead.
Once the champagne glasses were empty and everyone had made speech's it was our turn to perform so we took to the stage. It all got very emotional as both villagers and visitors began to get teary eyed, I think they really liked the song and someone even translated it into Spanish ! After the song the bagpipes started and so did the dancing ! We all had a great time dancing I even got to dance with the wonderful Cello! When we had danced so much we couldn't dance anymore we packed up all the equipment into the van. Once the room was back to normal it felt rather empty , so much had taken place in the space it was strange to see how it looked before. Once again champagne was given out to toast the nights success we then of course headed to the bar ! The bar itself was something else only a few chairs and a wood draw for a till ! It was great to relax and just chat while sipping ridiculously cheap martini ! The whole village was so welcoming that I felt really sad to be leaving the next day.
Sunday 20th
On out last day we had arranged to go to mass at the local church with some of the villagers. The church had its own band and choir and some of the actors from the show were in it. The mass ceremony was obviously very important to the community that went so we did our best to respect this. The church itself was extremely fascinating with lots of religious artefacts and paintings and even a model of Bethlehem. After mass we didnt have long to pack before leaving but we still managed a visit to cello's home and were shown were we could stay if we wanted to come back again!
It felt so strange to leave the village as we had been thrown into the deep end and I had loved it . I actully didnt want to leave and would of loved to stay for longer. As we drove out of the village I couldnt help but stare at the beautiful scenery we were leaving behind. So we were on our way to Santander early so we could take a look at Carols hometown. Santander is a strange city in some respects as its scenery appears to juxtapose itself , you have a marina leading to the sea and then the snow topped mountains but it worked and was a stunning sight to behold.
We went to a wonderful christmas market were I bought myself a delightul headpiece , I just couldnt resist. A cup of green tea later and it was time to go to the airport and say our goodbyes. Once in airport it got rather emotional as we said our goodbyes and thanked Carol and Martha for our time in spain and thanked them for being so wonderful and accomidating. Before we knew it we were back on the plane homeward bound to England just in time for christmas.
I am eternally grateful for my time in spain and for the opportunity , it is a experience I will never forget. I learnt so much from Spiral from their presentations on spain to the practical things we got involved with. Working with Spiral has really opened my eyes to Community theatre and what comminuity theatre can be. In that one week alone I learnt so much and was just great to be apart of. It was great to work with people of all ages and really get involved with the community. My time is spain was wonderful I was luckily enough to meet wonderful people and have a fatastic time , working with Spiral has made me think about my future and opened my eyes to another branch of theatre.
After our visit to the school me and Zoe and ' Shotgun'carol headed to Lupa for our final food supplies. We were shopping to get the ingredients to make an English feast for 14 people so we had to get everything right. When we were talking to Carol in the car it was obvious the passion she has for her job as she told us about her life in Spiral and the work she does. With our shopping trolley filled to the max we headed back to the village for rehearsal.
The dress rehearsal was an event in itself as so many new people arrived , so it was hugging and kissing all round. However amongst the chaos a show began to form and we began to see how things would take form for the next day. After our rehearsal we all had our jobs to do in the cooking of the feast. I myself was in charge of gravy which I made from scratch with the helpful guidance of chef supreme , Chris ! Once all the food was cooked we all gathered around the table for a feast like no other! The feast was filled with delicious food, laughter and wine all in all a perfect evening. Me and my fellow students had been working on a song as a creative way to say thank you to Spiral for their hospitality and giving us the opportunity to work with them. We sang our own interpretation of ' the 12days of Christmas' an wrote a song called ' Thank you , Beliva' for the villagers. After our sing song it was time for bed as Saturday was show day and bound to be mad !
Saturday 19th
We spent the day making final adjustments to the space and cleaning up basically getting prepared for the evenings events. As usual we had our siesta and delicious meal but we didn't have long because we had to be back and ready to go for the evenings two performances. As part of the play they had real food on the table which we later got to sample but in the mean time we had to make sure none of it got eaten before hand. We all had jobs to do and mine and Hannah's was sound , which wasn't as complicated as we thought luckily we only had to press a button. Even though we weren't actually in it I did still get nervous for the actors as for many of them they had never acted before. The show was a complete success we had more than capacity in the hall and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show as did the actors. Their was such characters in the show that it was their personality and enthusiasm that really brought the show to life. After two fantastic performances we began to pack away but the villagers wouldn't let us instead we all drank champagne and sampled their delicious food instead.
Once the champagne glasses were empty and everyone had made speech's it was our turn to perform so we took to the stage. It all got very emotional as both villagers and visitors began to get teary eyed, I think they really liked the song and someone even translated it into Spanish ! After the song the bagpipes started and so did the dancing ! We all had a great time dancing I even got to dance with the wonderful Cello! When we had danced so much we couldn't dance anymore we packed up all the equipment into the van. Once the room was back to normal it felt rather empty , so much had taken place in the space it was strange to see how it looked before. Once again champagne was given out to toast the nights success we then of course headed to the bar ! The bar itself was something else only a few chairs and a wood draw for a till ! It was great to relax and just chat while sipping ridiculously cheap martini ! The whole village was so welcoming that I felt really sad to be leaving the next day.
Sunday 20th
On out last day we had arranged to go to mass at the local church with some of the villagers. The church had its own band and choir and some of the actors from the show were in it. The mass ceremony was obviously very important to the community that went so we did our best to respect this. The church itself was extremely fascinating with lots of religious artefacts and paintings and even a model of Bethlehem. After mass we didnt have long to pack before leaving but we still managed a visit to cello's home and were shown were we could stay if we wanted to come back again!
It felt so strange to leave the village as we had been thrown into the deep end and I had loved it . I actully didnt want to leave and would of loved to stay for longer. As we drove out of the village I couldnt help but stare at the beautiful scenery we were leaving behind. So we were on our way to Santander early so we could take a look at Carols hometown. Santander is a strange city in some respects as its scenery appears to juxtapose itself , you have a marina leading to the sea and then the snow topped mountains but it worked and was a stunning sight to behold.
We went to a wonderful christmas market were I bought myself a delightul headpiece , I just couldnt resist. A cup of green tea later and it was time to go to the airport and say our goodbyes. Once in airport it got rather emotional as we said our goodbyes and thanked Carol and Martha for our time in spain and thanked them for being so wonderful and accomidating. Before we knew it we were back on the plane homeward bound to England just in time for christmas.
I am eternally grateful for my time in spain and for the opportunity , it is a experience I will never forget. I learnt so much from Spiral from their presentations on spain to the practical things we got involved with. Working with Spiral has really opened my eyes to Community theatre and what comminuity theatre can be. In that one week alone I learnt so much and was just great to be apart of. It was great to work with people of all ages and really get involved with the community. My time is spain was wonderful I was luckily enough to meet wonderful people and have a fatastic time , working with Spiral has made me think about my future and opened my eyes to another branch of theatre.
Friday, 8 January 2010
The Decison - Tuesday 15th
Just as the day before we met at the community centre at 10 am , well rested from the night before. Today's morning seminar was on Brecht's play ' The Decision' we looked at small parts of the text and explored the language and analysed the text itself. Chris raised the issue of would it matter if this piece was ever performed and why ? At first I didn't see the relevance of the play in relation to Spirals work , then Chris explained that like spiral , Brecht's actors were real people. So I began to understand that the message of the play doesn't necessarily come from performing it but rather from the reading. If the decision was performed by actors to an audience merely of spectators it wouldn't have the same desired effect. This made me realise how important spirals work really is , their work is written by the people for the people not someone sat in a theatre all the way up in the gods. Chris really lit a fire within me and I began to think about the purpose and nature of theatre and how easily we can be led in the wrong direction and loose sight of what is really important when it comes to performances. Theatre is an incredibly powerful tool that has the ability to reach people sometimes without them even realising it.
The mornings exercise really made me think about what I consider to be theatre and how I view it. I certainly think in today's society there is a serious misconception of what theatre is , I mean you only have to look at the hundreds of people flocking to the west end every night to see that culture can dictate theatre. Musicals are huge in popular cultural due to the television shows that endorse them and its these t.v shows that reach the largest demographic. Now when considering this I wonder are musicals popular because of the media influence and the notion of celebrity , or because you get a two hour performance complete with ice cream rounded off with a happy ending ? I certainly have a new found respect for Brecht and his work , I really like his whole process that doesn't necessarily need or lead to a performance. I think sometimes we can become so focused on the end product in performance that we loose sight of the true beauty of theatre , it is after all an art form and expression of Humanity.
After our presentation we were told that a surprise was in store for us which turned out to be a visit to the amazing caves of cueva el sopalo! The caves were deep underground and completely covered in stalagmites and stalactites. The backdrop to the cave centre was the beautiful snow dipped mountains which were utterly wonderful and I made sure I took plenty of photos ! When we travelled underground to the cave I don't think i was quite prepared for what I saw , thousands of stalactites cascading from the roof , glistening in the darkness. I was fascinated by the formations the stalagmites had taken ,one in particular was like a grave yard it was so strange to think they had formed like this without human intervention. The cave had only been discovered just over a hundred years ago , so for thousands of years the stalactites and stalagmites formed in secret.
After our trip to the cave we headed straight into rehearsal with the villagers this time in the actual performance space. The space itself was a bar that wasn't used very often and had strange and rude pictures on the wall ! After a rather cold rehearsal spend huddled around a heater it was time for bed and supper as we had a long day ahead of us !
Wednesday 19th
Like the following morning we met at ten and as always we were bright eyed and bushy tailed and rearing to go! Today however we were to be set a challenge, we had an hour to create a proposal for a community project. Myself, Hannah, Zoe and charlotte decided to use our Ham House project in the summer, the second years chose their site specific project of telling ghost stories and based it around a performance at south sea castle. So we began putting together a plan of possible ideas for our summer project. I personally am still unsure about our project at Ham House only because I can’t really picture it in my mind yet, I find the prospect of performing in front of and keeping 3,000 people entertained extremely daunting. But I have no doubt that once the whole company come together and really buckle down we will come up with something spectacular.
When we began exploring ideas we were very conscious of space and how we would use it, how would we get 3,000 people in and out successfully? How would we entertain people while others flood in? Zoe however came up with a rather brilliant plan of making the audience’s entrance like a procession so that we could guide a constant flow of people and keep them entertained.
A siesta later we were back in the performance space, changing room’s style! As I expressed before I was worried about the obscenities on the wall, but I needn’t have fretted as spiral had an answer to this! We were to completely cover the entire room in white cloth from the ceiling to the floor. So we all set about with our different tasks to transform the space. I myself spent most of my time stood on a bench attaching sheets to the ceiling with the marvel which is cable ties! I actually really enjoyed the hands on approach of the afternoon and it was great to be apart of the transformation of the room. The space looked completely different when we had finished, something as simple as white cloth completely changed the whole ambience of the room. It was no longer a dusty bar but a bright and clean performance space, where anything could happen. When the villagers walked in they were astounded with the change and from then on a real sense of excitement began to fill the air.
Thursday 17th
We were shown a video on the pedagogy a group of Spanish educational missionaries, who would go into rural Spain to educate the children. What these people did was amazing leaving their lives in the city to go and help such a neglected cause. This really hit home to me as I feel very strongly that everybody is entitled to an education and has the right to learn. Once you are given the tools to learn you never stop, as an adult I am still constantly learning and would never want to stop. Education stems beyond school and allows you to be knowledgeable and cultural. The pedagogy mission was an outstanding chapter in Spain’s intriguing history which without working with spiral I would of known nothing about!
The wonderful Nuku gave us a tour of the village and showed us all the beautiful sights. We were shown the bowling area which is a place of great honour and pride for the village, as one of the greatest bowlers in Spanish history came from Beliva. On our tour we visited two separate churches both steeped in history and beauty. Nuku even sang for us which was incredible, the villagers opened their hearts and homes to us and for that I am eternally grateful. As the tour continued we saw the beautiful landscape that the village had to offer he even took us to the cemetery were his family lay in rest and a plot he had reserved for himself!
The mornings exercise really made me think about what I consider to be theatre and how I view it. I certainly think in today's society there is a serious misconception of what theatre is , I mean you only have to look at the hundreds of people flocking to the west end every night to see that culture can dictate theatre. Musicals are huge in popular cultural due to the television shows that endorse them and its these t.v shows that reach the largest demographic. Now when considering this I wonder are musicals popular because of the media influence and the notion of celebrity , or because you get a two hour performance complete with ice cream rounded off with a happy ending ? I certainly have a new found respect for Brecht and his work , I really like his whole process that doesn't necessarily need or lead to a performance. I think sometimes we can become so focused on the end product in performance that we loose sight of the true beauty of theatre , it is after all an art form and expression of Humanity.
After our presentation we were told that a surprise was in store for us which turned out to be a visit to the amazing caves of cueva el sopalo! The caves were deep underground and completely covered in stalagmites and stalactites. The backdrop to the cave centre was the beautiful snow dipped mountains which were utterly wonderful and I made sure I took plenty of photos ! When we travelled underground to the cave I don't think i was quite prepared for what I saw , thousands of stalactites cascading from the roof , glistening in the darkness. I was fascinated by the formations the stalagmites had taken ,one in particular was like a grave yard it was so strange to think they had formed like this without human intervention. The cave had only been discovered just over a hundred years ago , so for thousands of years the stalactites and stalagmites formed in secret.
After our trip to the cave we headed straight into rehearsal with the villagers this time in the actual performance space. The space itself was a bar that wasn't used very often and had strange and rude pictures on the wall ! After a rather cold rehearsal spend huddled around a heater it was time for bed and supper as we had a long day ahead of us !
Wednesday 19th
Like the following morning we met at ten and as always we were bright eyed and bushy tailed and rearing to go! Today however we were to be set a challenge, we had an hour to create a proposal for a community project. Myself, Hannah, Zoe and charlotte decided to use our Ham House project in the summer, the second years chose their site specific project of telling ghost stories and based it around a performance at south sea castle. So we began putting together a plan of possible ideas for our summer project. I personally am still unsure about our project at Ham House only because I can’t really picture it in my mind yet, I find the prospect of performing in front of and keeping 3,000 people entertained extremely daunting. But I have no doubt that once the whole company come together and really buckle down we will come up with something spectacular.
When we began exploring ideas we were very conscious of space and how we would use it, how would we get 3,000 people in and out successfully? How would we entertain people while others flood in? Zoe however came up with a rather brilliant plan of making the audience’s entrance like a procession so that we could guide a constant flow of people and keep them entertained.
A siesta later we were back in the performance space, changing room’s style! As I expressed before I was worried about the obscenities on the wall, but I needn’t have fretted as spiral had an answer to this! We were to completely cover the entire room in white cloth from the ceiling to the floor. So we all set about with our different tasks to transform the space. I myself spent most of my time stood on a bench attaching sheets to the ceiling with the marvel which is cable ties! I actually really enjoyed the hands on approach of the afternoon and it was great to be apart of the transformation of the room. The space looked completely different when we had finished, something as simple as white cloth completely changed the whole ambience of the room. It was no longer a dusty bar but a bright and clean performance space, where anything could happen. When the villagers walked in they were astounded with the change and from then on a real sense of excitement began to fill the air.
Thursday 17th
We were shown a video on the pedagogy a group of Spanish educational missionaries, who would go into rural Spain to educate the children. What these people did was amazing leaving their lives in the city to go and help such a neglected cause. This really hit home to me as I feel very strongly that everybody is entitled to an education and has the right to learn. Once you are given the tools to learn you never stop, as an adult I am still constantly learning and would never want to stop. Education stems beyond school and allows you to be knowledgeable and cultural. The pedagogy mission was an outstanding chapter in Spain’s intriguing history which without working with spiral I would of known nothing about!
The wonderful Nuku gave us a tour of the village and showed us all the beautiful sights. We were shown the bowling area which is a place of great honour and pride for the village, as one of the greatest bowlers in Spanish history came from Beliva. On our tour we visited two separate churches both steeped in history and beauty. Nuku even sang for us which was incredible, the villagers opened their hearts and homes to us and for that I am eternally grateful. As the tour continued we saw the beautiful landscape that the village had to offer he even took us to the cemetery were his family lay in rest and a plot he had reserved for himself!
Thursday, 7 January 2010
♫ A place forever in our hearts ♫
On Saturday the 12th myself , Charlotte, Hannah and Zoe had our last performance at Ham house because on the Sunday we were to be jetting off to Spain. The day started early with myself and Zoe going the post office to get our euros , all very exciting. Once we reached Ham House it was hard to think of anything but Spain as we excitedly discussed the events of the next day. However once the rest of the cast arrived we pushed Spain to the backs of our mind and got into performance mode. Myself and Hannah were very vocal in our roles and this often left Megan and Karina with little to do , so I was glad that I was only doing three performances because it gave the other two a chance to perform in their own piece which they had created and I am sure they both brought their own unique spin to it.
After Ham House we all headed home, some to sleep others to pack ! I am the first to admit that packing is not my strong point nor do I enjoy it but it had to be done. I am not one for travelling light so I decided that this trip would be a perfect opportunity for change this so; rather than throw as many clothes in my bag as possible , I chose my outfits for each day this meant I would only take the bare minimum ( well for me anyway). So with my bag packed and everything checked off on my list , I tried to get some shut eye for the next day. On the Sunday morning while on the phone to Charlotte I suddenly realised that I hadn't packed a single pair of trousers ! so I had to change my travel outfit and wear jeans! The journey to the airport was fun and even more fun for Hans dad who drove us there !
Now once we got to the airport we had a slight run in with Ryan air and their weight limit but that was resolved and before we knew it we were getting frisked ! At the airport we met the second years we didn't really know them then so it was polite conversation all around however after a week you would of thought we had known each other for years ! The flight flew by ( no pun intended) and before we knew it we were in Santander! At the airport we were greeted by the three members of spiral ; Chris, Carol and Marta oh and not forgetting Carols mum! We were all greeted with the friendliest welcome kisses and hugs galore before all clambering in cars to get to..... Beliva !
We had Chris as our chauffeur who gave us a brief political history of Spain which I personally had no idea about , I had only been in the country five minutes and was already learning something new, I knew right there it was going to be quite a trip ! The Journey from the airport took about an Hour and we passed lots of beautiful scenery , so we were told but it was dark so how would we know ! When we arrived in Beliva there before us was our house for the week a beautiful town house ! As soon as we all entered the house it was a frantic dash round the house to see the rooms and of course shot gun the best one ! Myself and Charlotte shotgunned a big room upstairs ideal for all our luggage! Once every one's room had been decided we sat down for dinner which was cooked for us by the fabulous Marta ! After a wonderful meal and getting to know each other conversation it was time for bed as we needed our rest because we had no idea what the next day would involve !
Monday 14th - The day started with us all up and ready for action at ten making our way to the local community centre were Chris proceeded in showing us a slide show on Spain , spiral and the work they do . The work spiral do is incredible! where they get their inspiration and ideas from I don't know but I would love to find out! A piece that stuck in my mind was their work with British water ways , they had designed a boat and made it out of entirely recycled materials and the boat looked amazing ! After the presentation I have to admit I was rather in awe of Spiral and their work and did think what use was I going to be to them .
After the presentation it was supermarket time so me , Zoe , Han and Charlotte bundled into Chris's van and headed to Lu pa ! It was quite an experience to be buying food for nine people but we soon got the hang of it ! After we had sufficiently filled the trolley to the max we headed back to Beliva for a quick bite before the evenings activities. I was quite nervous to meet the actors because they had been working on the piece for weeks and here was us coming in the final week and not speaking a word of the language ! But I needn't have been worried the cast were so welcoming and friendly we were put instantly at ease after a serious round of hugging and kissing. We soon settled into watching the rehersal even though I didnt understand the langauge I began to undertand the moods of the scenes through the actors body language and tones. After rehersal we were all rather tired it had been a hectic day so we all went off to bed with the days events swirling around our minds.
After Ham House we all headed home, some to sleep others to pack ! I am the first to admit that packing is not my strong point nor do I enjoy it but it had to be done. I am not one for travelling light so I decided that this trip would be a perfect opportunity for change this so; rather than throw as many clothes in my bag as possible , I chose my outfits for each day this meant I would only take the bare minimum ( well for me anyway). So with my bag packed and everything checked off on my list , I tried to get some shut eye for the next day. On the Sunday morning while on the phone to Charlotte I suddenly realised that I hadn't packed a single pair of trousers ! so I had to change my travel outfit and wear jeans! The journey to the airport was fun and even more fun for Hans dad who drove us there !
Now once we got to the airport we had a slight run in with Ryan air and their weight limit but that was resolved and before we knew it we were getting frisked ! At the airport we met the second years we didn't really know them then so it was polite conversation all around however after a week you would of thought we had known each other for years ! The flight flew by ( no pun intended) and before we knew it we were in Santander! At the airport we were greeted by the three members of spiral ; Chris, Carol and Marta oh and not forgetting Carols mum! We were all greeted with the friendliest welcome kisses and hugs galore before all clambering in cars to get to..... Beliva !
We had Chris as our chauffeur who gave us a brief political history of Spain which I personally had no idea about , I had only been in the country five minutes and was already learning something new, I knew right there it was going to be quite a trip ! The Journey from the airport took about an Hour and we passed lots of beautiful scenery , so we were told but it was dark so how would we know ! When we arrived in Beliva there before us was our house for the week a beautiful town house ! As soon as we all entered the house it was a frantic dash round the house to see the rooms and of course shot gun the best one ! Myself and Charlotte shotgunned a big room upstairs ideal for all our luggage! Once every one's room had been decided we sat down for dinner which was cooked for us by the fabulous Marta ! After a wonderful meal and getting to know each other conversation it was time for bed as we needed our rest because we had no idea what the next day would involve !
Monday 14th - The day started with us all up and ready for action at ten making our way to the local community centre were Chris proceeded in showing us a slide show on Spain , spiral and the work they do . The work spiral do is incredible! where they get their inspiration and ideas from I don't know but I would love to find out! A piece that stuck in my mind was their work with British water ways , they had designed a boat and made it out of entirely recycled materials and the boat looked amazing ! After the presentation I have to admit I was rather in awe of Spiral and their work and did think what use was I going to be to them .
After the presentation it was supermarket time so me , Zoe , Han and Charlotte bundled into Chris's van and headed to Lu pa ! It was quite an experience to be buying food for nine people but we soon got the hang of it ! After we had sufficiently filled the trolley to the max we headed back to Beliva for a quick bite before the evenings activities. I was quite nervous to meet the actors because they had been working on the piece for weeks and here was us coming in the final week and not speaking a word of the language ! But I needn't have been worried the cast were so welcoming and friendly we were put instantly at ease after a serious round of hugging and kissing. We soon settled into watching the rehersal even though I didnt understand the langauge I began to undertand the moods of the scenes through the actors body language and tones. After rehersal we were all rather tired it had been a hectic day so we all went off to bed with the days events swirling around our minds.
Friday, 11 December 2009
No rest for the wicked!
As I predicted my week was just as hectic as last week if not more! So on Saturday we had our first performance at Ham House and it went brilliantly. The whole day had a real Christmas feel to it and both the public and performers I believe thoroughly enjoyed it. With every new performance there is that nervousness and excitement and I didn't feel it straight away in the morning but when I was waiting in the buttery and I heard the door go suddenly the excitement kicked in it was like a switch and suddenly I was Mrs Claus. Originally the idea was for it to be Q&A with Mrs Claus , poppy the elf and her son Nicky , however all this changed ! While the character of Mrs Claus being a feminist, modern business woman was genius, it didn't transcend well to children so instead we decided that Mrs Claus would be more about Christmas but still of course a feminist ! Hannah played poppy the elf and did a wonderful job all the children really responded well to her character. So the first day really to me was all about testing the waters , seeing what worked and what didn't.
Taking what I had learnt from the day before I came to Ham House with a better idea of how to approach my character. My initial costume of a suit was replaced with a bright red dress, Santa hat , boots and a big over sized coat. This simple change in costume was exactly what I needed to do in order to create a connection between me and Santa Claus for the children. I genuinely felt a lot more relaxed in my role with this change of costume and my character developed a softer and warmer side. The children didn't know much about Mrs Claus but were able to interact with me better due to my attire, it became apparent that in order for them to see me as Mrs Claus they needed the visual connection which was the bright red dress and hat. I didn't have to change my characters appearance but I felt it necessary other wise I think I would of been unhappy with my end performance.
However I didn't change my character completely she was still quick witted and confident but her focus had shifted from her own personal achievements to Christmas which the children understood better. But the day itself wasn't all about the children it was a family fun day so we had to be able to cater to adults as well. On my first day it was mainly about the children and how myself and Hannah interacted with them. On the Sunday a group of adults came up to the Buttery with out children and just presumed that our piece wasn't aimed at them but I asked them just as I did the children , what they wanted for Christmas. As soon as I had engaged them with the opening questions they felt relaxed and began to ask me and Hannah questions which was brilliant. With adults being the ones to fire the questions I could give answers back that children necessarily wouldn't understood. Someone asked me what I did on my day off to which I replied " A nice hot bath with a Catherine cookson novel " This sort of humour is something the adults could relate to and I particularly enjoyed this part of the day as I could try out jokes that were of more adult humour and understanding.
I did have an issue with my time at Ham House and that was my face painting skills ! Some members of the group were utterly fantastic at it, I myself however wasn't. But I still had a go anyway but wont be putting face painting on my c.v any time soon! All in all I thoroughly enjoyed Ham House the whole process was incredibly exciting but hard work at the same time. And I look forward to our summer project there when we can use the beautiful gardens and maybe just maybe not eat as many biscuits !
Taking what I had learnt from the day before I came to Ham House with a better idea of how to approach my character. My initial costume of a suit was replaced with a bright red dress, Santa hat , boots and a big over sized coat. This simple change in costume was exactly what I needed to do in order to create a connection between me and Santa Claus for the children. I genuinely felt a lot more relaxed in my role with this change of costume and my character developed a softer and warmer side. The children didn't know much about Mrs Claus but were able to interact with me better due to my attire, it became apparent that in order for them to see me as Mrs Claus they needed the visual connection which was the bright red dress and hat. I didn't have to change my characters appearance but I felt it necessary other wise I think I would of been unhappy with my end performance.
However I didn't change my character completely she was still quick witted and confident but her focus had shifted from her own personal achievements to Christmas which the children understood better. But the day itself wasn't all about the children it was a family fun day so we had to be able to cater to adults as well. On my first day it was mainly about the children and how myself and Hannah interacted with them. On the Sunday a group of adults came up to the Buttery with out children and just presumed that our piece wasn't aimed at them but I asked them just as I did the children , what they wanted for Christmas. As soon as I had engaged them with the opening questions they felt relaxed and began to ask me and Hannah questions which was brilliant. With adults being the ones to fire the questions I could give answers back that children necessarily wouldn't understood. Someone asked me what I did on my day off to which I replied " A nice hot bath with a Catherine cookson novel " This sort of humour is something the adults could relate to and I particularly enjoyed this part of the day as I could try out jokes that were of more adult humour and understanding.
I did have an issue with my time at Ham House and that was my face painting skills ! Some members of the group were utterly fantastic at it, I myself however wasn't. But I still had a go anyway but wont be putting face painting on my c.v any time soon! All in all I thoroughly enjoyed Ham House the whole process was incredibly exciting but hard work at the same time. And I look forward to our summer project there when we can use the beautiful gardens and maybe just maybe not eat as many biscuits !
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
key to the door !
I am exhausted ! It has been such a busy week since i last blogged . So last Wednesday in our lesson we developed the Q&A with the clauses further and were hot seated by the rest of the class. I really enjoyed this although some of the questions the class asked us would not be suitable for young ears , not mentioning any names ..... Rachel Cheesewright ! That lesson I felt was extremely productive and also a lot of fun! But the fun and frolics of Wednesday did not end there , oh no ! I donned on a wig a god awful suit and a very thick scouse accent and became cilia Black ! Briony needed actors for her T.v and production project especially someone that could do a scouse accent and because I have perfected the accent so well (haha) she chose me ! I tell you what t.v is a lot different than film for a start you don't need to project your voice because there is microphones and then you have to get ridiculously close to people ! But it was excellent experience even if I was strutting about presenting blind date !
Thursday was an exceptionally busy day too ! I had Irish theatre then a vocal workshop with patsy , I tell you her voice is incredible and she really knows what she is talking about too ! The workshop was brilliant and hopefully I will be able to join the choir she is setting up too . After singing my heart out for two hours I then went to the theatre for a talk on P.R with the charming Endyia . Endyia gave us a presentation on how to P.R ourselves in the industry for free through social networking which includes twitter and blogs such as this ! It was so simple yet effective and everyone took something a way from it , some more than others ( i.e myself with a bottle of gin )! Yes that's right yours truly won a bottle of Gin , how I hear you cry , well its quite simple I had to sell myself in 30 seconds ! I won't disclose too many details but lets just say it involved a rather spectacular impression of heather small! Until our talk I had never really put much thought into P.R but that's all changed now and I see how valuable and important it is . And like so many of my tales we of course ended up at the pub afterwards.
Friday, we were in Ham house for a run through of all the stories and performances which was great to get the feel of the house in costume . Our costumes involve plenty of layers , gloves , Xmas jumpers and the ever fashionable wellies ! While I can speak positively of this my own performance on Friday I can not ! I left the lecture on Friday deeply dissatisfied with myself as our Q&A sectioned did not go as well as it had on the Wednesday before . On Friday we somehow managed to loose all structure which meant the piece lasted too long at parts and we lost sight of our characters and were merely answering questions as ourselves but we have a plan and this will be changed!
So after Fridays rather unsettling performance of my behalf I rushed to the station to catch the train to Liverpool for one night only ! It was my birthday the next day and being the dutiful granddaughter that I am , I went home to have a meal with my family on the Saturday . Birthdays are so stressful ! so much to do and organise ! I spent the majority of my birthday dyeing my hair , why I don't know but I did! In between emergency trips to boots to rectify my hair which had gone blonde ! I managed to fit in a family meal at Briars Hall which is a beautiful hotel in the country not far from my house , my grandad is a rather persuasive man and had managed to talk the hotel into opening their restaurant in the day , which they don't usually do especially when its only for six people ! The meal was wonderful and extremely humorous as ever with my grandad announcing that he would like to get married to my nan at the hotel as he wasn't sure until then if she was the right woman for him , they have been together for nearly 60 years ! ( and are already married )!
A meal and a different hair colour later I was on the train back to London with my two friends from home , Lisa and Emma. We had a mini party on the train complete with birthday cake and bucks fizz ! At Euston I picked up three more stragglers from home and headed to wild wild whitton for my sailor themed birthday party which I was celebrating with fellow D.I.C member Rachel . As always I was late but that didn't dampen the party and I had a fantastic time and everyone bought me wonderful and useful presents; vodka , strongbow , fake tan and a new fake tan mit! Now you would think that after partying till 6 am that I would have the next day free to sleep all day well I didn't , yes that's right boys and girls I got up after two hours sleep and went to comedy school ! ( as you do)
My sense of direction isn't great at the best of times but when I am suffering from the night before I am useless , which of course is a great use when your in Camden and trying to find a road which you have no idea of the name of it ! But luckily Mark the beacon Griffin was roaming around Camden and showed us the way ! My day at comedy school was amazing , I participated in workshops, talks on getting started in the industry and even met with a bbc casting director ! But of course not forgetting the Q&A session with Hugh Dennis who was very entertaining and slightly drunk ! The whole day really made me realise how much I love comedy and I am definitely going to do one of the 8 week courses in the new year. After comedy school we headed to the pub for a drink and discussion on the days activity's , but all that talking made us hungry and we went to a delightful Lebanese restaurant to ease those hunger pains !
So as you can see I had a rather hectic week and I have a feeling this week will be pretty much the same , with the first ham house perform ace on Saturday and plenty of work to be getting on with but I am not complaining as I love every minute of it and in less than two weeks I will be in Spain! ( Jealous much) !
Thursday was an exceptionally busy day too ! I had Irish theatre then a vocal workshop with patsy , I tell you her voice is incredible and she really knows what she is talking about too ! The workshop was brilliant and hopefully I will be able to join the choir she is setting up too . After singing my heart out for two hours I then went to the theatre for a talk on P.R with the charming Endyia . Endyia gave us a presentation on how to P.R ourselves in the industry for free through social networking which includes twitter and blogs such as this ! It was so simple yet effective and everyone took something a way from it , some more than others ( i.e myself with a bottle of gin )! Yes that's right yours truly won a bottle of Gin , how I hear you cry , well its quite simple I had to sell myself in 30 seconds ! I won't disclose too many details but lets just say it involved a rather spectacular impression of heather small! Until our talk I had never really put much thought into P.R but that's all changed now and I see how valuable and important it is . And like so many of my tales we of course ended up at the pub afterwards.
Friday, we were in Ham house for a run through of all the stories and performances which was great to get the feel of the house in costume . Our costumes involve plenty of layers , gloves , Xmas jumpers and the ever fashionable wellies ! While I can speak positively of this my own performance on Friday I can not ! I left the lecture on Friday deeply dissatisfied with myself as our Q&A sectioned did not go as well as it had on the Wednesday before . On Friday we somehow managed to loose all structure which meant the piece lasted too long at parts and we lost sight of our characters and were merely answering questions as ourselves but we have a plan and this will be changed!
So after Fridays rather unsettling performance of my behalf I rushed to the station to catch the train to Liverpool for one night only ! It was my birthday the next day and being the dutiful granddaughter that I am , I went home to have a meal with my family on the Saturday . Birthdays are so stressful ! so much to do and organise ! I spent the majority of my birthday dyeing my hair , why I don't know but I did! In between emergency trips to boots to rectify my hair which had gone blonde ! I managed to fit in a family meal at Briars Hall which is a beautiful hotel in the country not far from my house , my grandad is a rather persuasive man and had managed to talk the hotel into opening their restaurant in the day , which they don't usually do especially when its only for six people ! The meal was wonderful and extremely humorous as ever with my grandad announcing that he would like to get married to my nan at the hotel as he wasn't sure until then if she was the right woman for him , they have been together for nearly 60 years ! ( and are already married )!
A meal and a different hair colour later I was on the train back to London with my two friends from home , Lisa and Emma. We had a mini party on the train complete with birthday cake and bucks fizz ! At Euston I picked up three more stragglers from home and headed to wild wild whitton for my sailor themed birthday party which I was celebrating with fellow D.I.C member Rachel . As always I was late but that didn't dampen the party and I had a fantastic time and everyone bought me wonderful and useful presents; vodka , strongbow , fake tan and a new fake tan mit! Now you would think that after partying till 6 am that I would have the next day free to sleep all day well I didn't , yes that's right boys and girls I got up after two hours sleep and went to comedy school ! ( as you do)
My sense of direction isn't great at the best of times but when I am suffering from the night before I am useless , which of course is a great use when your in Camden and trying to find a road which you have no idea of the name of it ! But luckily Mark the beacon Griffin was roaming around Camden and showed us the way ! My day at comedy school was amazing , I participated in workshops, talks on getting started in the industry and even met with a bbc casting director ! But of course not forgetting the Q&A session with Hugh Dennis who was very entertaining and slightly drunk ! The whole day really made me realise how much I love comedy and I am definitely going to do one of the 8 week courses in the new year. After comedy school we headed to the pub for a drink and discussion on the days activity's , but all that talking made us hungry and we went to a delightful Lebanese restaurant to ease those hunger pains !
So as you can see I had a rather hectic week and I have a feeling this week will be pretty much the same , with the first ham house perform ace on Saturday and plenty of work to be getting on with but I am not complaining as I love every minute of it and in less than two weeks I will be in Spain! ( Jealous much) !
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
a cheesy sign off line
Well it's been a whole week since I last blogged and what have I done since then ? to be honest I really don't know the whole week has just been a blur ! Lets see on Wednesday we had a D.I.C lecture where we went through possible poems and stories for the Ham House Christmas project , I wasn't really into mine and was starting to feel a bit lost about my place in the project but luckily that all changed on Friday but more about that later. Now Wednesday was also a dear friend of mines 21st Birthday the lovely Leon ! So in true Drama style we all glammed up for a night on the tiles in central at Zoo bar which I have to say I wasn't particularly fond of ! But the night itself was brilliant plenty of drama peeps came along to wish Leon a happy birthday. I don't want to divulge to much but lets just say it was a night of messy madness and I loved it ! Everyone was merry and on top form , I even did my heather small impression for a few lucky people ! It wouldn't be a drama night out without drama and boy did we have it , by the bucket load ! Ewart had twisted his ankle but didn't realise until he started to bust a move ! Oh and poor Sammy managed to get her phone stolen as we were walking to the night bus stop , we think she may have accidentally lost it when she was buying those oh so important chips at the end of the night ! But apart from that it was a fabulous night.
National rail were the bane of my life last week! I had to go into central for a meal with my uncle but was really late because the signs at the train station kept lying to me ! It would say the train was cancelled so I would run over to the other platform but when I got there the supposedly cancelled train came ! I was not impressed but my meal with my uncle made up for it . He has to be my favourite uncle and not just because he pays for a 3 course meal with cocktails, well maybe!
Now onto Friday ! So Friday we were in the house getting a feel for it so when we come to perform we will be familiar with it . Now as I mentioned before I was starting to worry about my role in the Christmas project , I wasn't satisfied with my poem and my performance however thanks to Karina and Megan that's all changed! The had come up with the concept of a question and answers session with Mrs Claus santa's son and a elf , well as soon as they suggested it I was in ! So being the shrinking violet that I am , it was quite out of character for me to put myself forward for the part of Mrs Claus ! We came up with the idea that Mrs Claus is feminist who is the brains behind the whole operation , who has a family and a career she does it all , what a woman! My part will involve knowing the back story to Mrs Claus but in order to make the Q&A real I will be hot seated by the audience , which I am so excited for because I love improvisation and hot seating , all in all the perfect part for me !
Now with Hard work comes Hard play and last week was the week of the birthdays! So on Friday night after waiting a HOUR ! for the 281 we eventually made to Jack's birthday at the red lion. I don't smoke but I swear sometimes I suffer because of this as everyone I was out with was puffing a way outside , so guess who else has to be outside ... me ! After spending our time at the red lion outside we hopped on the wonderfully reliable 281 to Kingston to Baccus the smallest club in the world, I am pretty sure my wardrobe is bigger than the dance floor ! But like Cinderella I was going to turn into a pumpkin if I stayed out too late so me Kate and Zoe left at 1.
The weekend went by in no time probably because I slept away most of it , I got sent home from work for being ill which meant I missed out on tips but then got to sleep for hours for medicinal purposes , swings and roundabouts you see ! On Sunday I met up with my partner in crime Zoe to talk business , well the 12 hour musical which everyone will be coming too !
Living in London and being a fan of the theatre I thought I would go and see something cultured and wildly intelligent and on the pulse so what did I go and see.....New Moon , of course ! I am not ashamed to admit it I love the twilight saga ! Edward , Bella , Jacob the whole gang ! I read the first three books in the summer in the space of a week , they took over my life ! I really enjoyed the film and my ice blast ! all in all a perfect evening ! As always I have chattered on for far too long and I am sure I have plenty of work I could be doing ,so until next time keep watching the sky ! hahaha
National rail were the bane of my life last week! I had to go into central for a meal with my uncle but was really late because the signs at the train station kept lying to me ! It would say the train was cancelled so I would run over to the other platform but when I got there the supposedly cancelled train came ! I was not impressed but my meal with my uncle made up for it . He has to be my favourite uncle and not just because he pays for a 3 course meal with cocktails, well maybe!
Now onto Friday ! So Friday we were in the house getting a feel for it so when we come to perform we will be familiar with it . Now as I mentioned before I was starting to worry about my role in the Christmas project , I wasn't satisfied with my poem and my performance however thanks to Karina and Megan that's all changed! The had come up with the concept of a question and answers session with Mrs Claus santa's son and a elf , well as soon as they suggested it I was in ! So being the shrinking violet that I am , it was quite out of character for me to put myself forward for the part of Mrs Claus ! We came up with the idea that Mrs Claus is feminist who is the brains behind the whole operation , who has a family and a career she does it all , what a woman! My part will involve knowing the back story to Mrs Claus but in order to make the Q&A real I will be hot seated by the audience , which I am so excited for because I love improvisation and hot seating , all in all the perfect part for me !
Now with Hard work comes Hard play and last week was the week of the birthdays! So on Friday night after waiting a HOUR ! for the 281 we eventually made to Jack's birthday at the red lion. I don't smoke but I swear sometimes I suffer because of this as everyone I was out with was puffing a way outside , so guess who else has to be outside ... me ! After spending our time at the red lion outside we hopped on the wonderfully reliable 281 to Kingston to Baccus the smallest club in the world, I am pretty sure my wardrobe is bigger than the dance floor ! But like Cinderella I was going to turn into a pumpkin if I stayed out too late so me Kate and Zoe left at 1.
The weekend went by in no time probably because I slept away most of it , I got sent home from work for being ill which meant I missed out on tips but then got to sleep for hours for medicinal purposes , swings and roundabouts you see ! On Sunday I met up with my partner in crime Zoe to talk business , well the 12 hour musical which everyone will be coming too !
Living in London and being a fan of the theatre I thought I would go and see something cultured and wildly intelligent and on the pulse so what did I go and see.....New Moon , of course ! I am not ashamed to admit it I love the twilight saga ! Edward , Bella , Jacob the whole gang ! I read the first three books in the summer in the space of a week , they took over my life ! I really enjoyed the film and my ice blast ! all in all a perfect evening ! As always I have chattered on for far too long and I am sure I have plenty of work I could be doing ,so until next time keep watching the sky ! hahaha
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