ada-in-london

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 9th On our last day in London, there was a Tube strike that was to last at least twenty-four hours. I wanted to make the most of the last day despite this, so I did my best! After class, Elivia and I took the bus to the Tower of London. The streets of Russell Square looked like New York City streets with the number of people who were usually underground all walking and biking to work because of the strike. The buses all moved very slowly and were packed. When we finally got to the Tower of London we decided to take a tour. It was very informative and our guide went into detail about the many people who had been beheaded in the courtyard of the tower, including Anne Boleyn, one of the many wives of Henry the 8th. They had old weapons in one of the buildings as well as what the king's bedchamber would have looked like, however one of the most interesting things to see at the Tower of London were the last of the Tudor style houses and the crown jewels. It was interesting to know that there was really only one building left from that time period/style even though you hear so much about the Tudors and their architectural style. The crown jewels were displayed proudly beside a conveyor belt, so you didn't have too much time to admire them. One of the sceptres had one of the largest diamonds I had ever seen embedded at the top. It was so cool to see the the crown jewels from over the years. They also had a video displaying the current queen’s coronation in the 1950s. I realized that although the history of English royalty is so long, it must have been the first time such a ceremony had been recorded. It is also interesting to think that the current queen of England has ruled for so long, 64 years. After The Tower of London, Elivia and I went to a Fashion exhibition at the Barbican entitled “The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined.” The message of this exhibit seemed to make the point that vulgarity in fashion has always existed, but that the term does not necessarily translate to bad taste, but instead change. The exhibit was filled quotes about the term “vulgar” and was very thought provoking. I was surprised with how contemporary some of the pieces were, some were from summer/fall of 2015. This is because they were from the “Catwalk” show made by the top fashion companies and were one-of-a-kind. I don't normally get to see fashion exhibits as much as I do paintings, so it was interesting to see. Next, Elivia went back to the hostel and I took to bus to the Tate Modern because I hadn't been able to do that yet. I had just a little over an hour to spend in the museum, but I was still able to see everything I wanted to see. One of the most interesting things about the museum was how a very modern artist named Mark Rothko was actually inspired by Claude Monet. The two are so different that you wouldn't think to see the similarities, but all the same it was a refreshing reminder that inspiration can be drawn from anywhere and still be made unique. Although normally I find a lot of modern art to be very stripped down and sometimes meaningless, it was nice to be alone in the museum away from the opinions of others. Being alone allowed me to form my own opinion on what I was seeing and I found myself regretting not going off on my own more often throughout the trip. Later on in the evening, we saw “Hedda Gabler”. The actor who played Hedda's husband did wonderful work and was extremely believable. I also very much enjoyed the rather plain set with the shadow of the curtains on one end contributing to the time of day throughout the piece. For me the second act kind of dragged and I enjoyed the first half a lot more. I enjoyed the themes of the play that were very clear messages of unhappiness with life, and mental disorders, Hedda’s constant complaining and manipulation. All-in-all, my last day in London was very memorable and I was able to fit everything I wanted to do in despite the Tube strike. Additionally, I managed to survive the trip without getting terribly sick, so I was very glad of that as well.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 8th A.J. and I started the day with brunch at a sandwich place. I also finally got to order some British Tea which I was not disappointed with. Next, we met Bailey and headed over to see Big Ben and the Parliament building as well as Westminster Abbey. Apparently only British citizens can go inside Big Ben, which I thought was interesting considering how much money they could make from tourists, but I suppose they have enough tourist attractions as it is. We really only walked around and admired the buildings from the outside. The abbey wasn't open to the public that day, but it was amazing just to see the architecture. It was very intricate. The one museum that was not listed on the syllabus that I really wanted to go see was the Wallace Collection. I wanted to go because it has a painting that I've wanted to see in person for quite a long time called “The Swing”, by Jean Honore Fragonard. I'm not sure why I was so drawn to this piece, but I'm very happy that I was able to see it. The longer I walked through the museum I found myself worried that the painting wouldn't be there or that it would be on loan. It ended up that the painting was upstairs and was one of the last things I saw, which made sense because it was one of the more famous works in the collection. The style of the painting is quite overdone in terms of the expressions on the subjects faces, the controversy surrounding the topic of the painting, and the outfits. This is characteristic of the Rococo style. Even though this genre is not my favorite by any means, there is something special about this painting. I think it may have to do with the colors and the setting. It seems so hidden, so far away and almost mystical. The girl on the swing looks like a princess, and her slipper is seen flying through the air. The light colors of the clothing worn by the subjects show up well against the background of different shades of green. I later learned from Bailey that the painting inspired the movie “Tangled” as well as countless other things. I definitely got lost in that painting and was very glad I got to see it.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 7th Today I saw “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time." I was really excited that I was able to see this because the show is closed in New York. The opening scene was perhaps the most shocking scene of the entire show. The show opened with a dead dog center stage with a garden fork going through him. The lights were wild and flashing and the actor was huddled up in a ball next to the dog overwhelmed with grief.

All in all, I really enjoyed this piece. The lights were arranged in a grid which took up the entire space. These lights were utilized in different ways throughout which was interesting to see. They would flash when the main character, Christopher, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, would not be able to take the chaos of the world any longer. I enjoyed the message of the piece and how it provided a glimpse into how it may be to live with Aspergers. The actors physicalizations were very well done, especially Christopher’s.

After the show, we ate at a food cart and then tried to find the Barbican Theatre where the BBC orchestra would be playing. We gave ourselves an hour travel time, which proved to be necessary considering the fact that the Tube stations near us were closed. We ended up taking a bus and then a wrong turn, so unfortunately we were very late to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The music that I was able to hear during the second half, I was not floored by. It was quite contemporary for the most part I think and I just didn’t very much enjoy the overall sound. It was very different from a performance by the Albany Symphony I had seen in November, which was much more classical. The violin playing was interesting to hear, but it wasn’t the type of music that I was used to hearing, so I couldn’t focus very well. Toward the end there was one piece I very much enjoyed that employed a lot of build up throughout the different sections. I still wish I had gotten there a little earlier so that I could have heard more and had a better idea of the types of pieces they performed.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 6th Today Rachel, Annaleigh, and I went to the Harry Potter Studio tour. We all woke up very early, 5:30 am. We got on the Tube and then transferred to the London above ground. Once we got to our station, we had to wait for another train, which was very late. We then waited for a bus to bring us to the studio. Getting there was stressful and there was a lot of uncertainty because trains were late and whatnot and we worried we had missed a train and when we got there, there was a long line outside to pick up our tickets. As we were waiting in this line, I spotted a girl who had gone to my middle school. We were very surprised that we were both in London on the exact same tour, and in that moment it really seemed like a small world. When we got into the studio, the first thing we saw was the great hall from the movie. They also had the potion room with all the original props. Diagon alley filled an entire room, with various wizard shops. Everything was very detailed, for example every wand box in the wand shop was hand made, and during one movie the shop was blown up and all of the props went with it. Additionally, the candles in the great hall were real, but then later had to added in digitally because of a fire hazard risk. It really makes you realize how much time and countless resources go into making a movie. The actors are just a small fraction of the piece, and there was a lot of focus throughout the tour about just how many different people were employed in the production. There were portrait artists that created every painting on the wall and digital animators who made it possible for them to come to life. I definitely have a deeper understanding how things were accomplished in the movie. Despite waiting for trains and long lines in the cold, it was very much worth seeing the various sets from the film. One of my favorite parts of today was that we met some people from a soccer team from the Netherlands who were staying in the hostel. The Netherlands is so close to London, you could take a boat and be there pretty quickly. It was really fun for me to try to talk to them in Dutch because I rarely get the chance to speak it in New York. It’s really interesting to me as well that there seems to be so many different languages being spoken in London, even though it is an English speaking country. I really enjoy being surrounded by different languages and I will definitely miss hearing all of the Dutch conversations when I return home.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 5th The Tate Museum was beautiful not crowded at all. I think that it has been my favorite art gallery so far. I loved the John Singer Sargent paintings. My favorite painting of his is probably Carnation Lily, Lily Rose. It’s light colors against the dark green background as well as the two young girls seemed very whimsical. Some of his other paintings had this effect as well, which were interesting to compare. “Much Ado About Nothing,” which we saw later in the evening was a beautiful production. It was done in the same theatre that we saw “Love’s Labour’s Lost” in, and was also performed by the same cast, which was mind-blowing to me. It's amazing to me to think about the amount of work this must be for the cast and crew to be working on two different shows pretty much simultaneously. The set was similar, moving out while another scene begins, and at one point the smaller stage was so dimly lit with candlelight that it looked like a painting coming into focus. Although the set was similar and utilized in similar ways in both productions, it managed to appear quite different. The production also had wonderful songs and underscoring. “Much Ado” has always been my favorite Shakespeare because it is, for the most part, a light and comic love story compared to his other more dark works. I liked the time period because somehow the language seemed appropriate, and I know that Shakespeare's work is translated to all eras, but personally, I don't like it when the setting moves to the 50s onward. It doesn't make enough sense, but in this production the era worked very well and I'm so glad I was able to see it in a new way.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 4th Today we saw Buckingham Palace. It was pretty cool, and we took quite a few tourist photos there. Next, we went to really good Italian restaurant. We split a pizza and some really good gnocchi. It was probably my favorite meal so far. After we ate, we headed to the Haymarket Theatre which was just across the street to see “Love’s Labor’s Lost.” I was excited to see it and was glad that we were able to switch our tickets to today instead of yesterday because it would have conflicted with the “Red Shoes.” Our seats for the first half of the show were in the highest section of the theatre and were very uncomfortable. We luckily were able to get closer and more comfortable seats after intermission. Unfortunately, I dozed off multiple times during the show because I was so tired. I tried very hard to stay awake, but I could tell the production was very well done, even so. I very much enjoyed the music incorporated into the show as well as the era it was set in. The lead male actor was very good, however the other three actors were not very well developed, and they seemed to exist just to compliment the main actor. It was very comic at points, which I enjoyed. One of my favorite aspects of the production was the fact that the set would move offstage and the actors on that platform would continue their movement, while a new scene in the foreground would begin simultaneously as the previous one was ending. The ending however caught me off guard. It seemed to shift from musical comedy to an abrupt somber ending rather quickly. Though it was rather confusing, it was powerful all the same.

[ada-in-london]

Jan. 2nd When we arrived at the National Gallery, I saw that there was only really one main floor with all of the paintings throughout the ages, and because of this I underestimated just how much art the museum houses. I started with medieval art and broke off from my group deciding I would go at my own pace. After realizing I had spent almost an hour in one era, I realized I would need to pick up the pace in order to see the works I was most interested in. Among my favorites were the pieces by Serat. It always amazes me how unorganized yet beautiful the tiny dots look while up close and yet how they create a comprehensible image when looked at from a distance. I did not get to every room I had wanted to, so I’m hoping to go back if I have the time and try to check out the National Portrait Gallery as well. The sheer amount of art in the place was overwhelming at times. After lunch, we went back to see an exhibit about Caravaggio. it was very interesting and although the exhibit mostly focused on the artist’s influence on others, there was still such a distinct style present in the paintings that you could clearly tell where his followers drew inspiration from Caravaggio. The way of portraying lighting was very intense with its light lights and dark darks. Most paintings had the feel of a dark environment lit by candlelight. The style was also very based in realism and many paintings were like a slice of life in front of me. Later in the evening I went to see the absurdist comedy called “Nice Fish” which was very interesting and everything I could have wanted for my first absurdist theatre piece. The play was about two fishermen spending days out on the ice. The themes throughout were clear and the show was altogether very comic and enjoyable, although very serious at other points. I loved the play’s acceptance of nonsense and the never ending circle of the plot, because I believe it is quite an accurate reflection of life. The character who seemed to represent Old Man Winter had a line that went something like “You silly yourself to death when you remember the rooms full of smoke and wine and the pointless conversations.” The character Flo has a line that says something like “Oh moon, it asks why are you going and where will you go?” as she refers to how the moon never leaves when you drive in the car. As one fisherman catches a fish, the other says something about the life the fish will have on a plaque and how it will remain on the plaque after his divorce. After the realization that the fish is pointless, the fishermen puts it back and it begins to snow as if to indicate a celebration of the acceptance of the pointlessness and absurdity of the world. At one point near the end of the show, the actors acknowledged audience opinion and talked about how the show would resonate by portraying an old couple. The two were eventually grabbed by fishhooks, seeming to end their lives the way they had been spending their lives.

[ada-in-london]

Jan 1st Today is New Year’s Day. Today was quite a lazy day and we didn’t really start our day until afternoon because we slept in. Bailey and I began our day with a traditional English breakfast of chips, beans and an egg. It was very interesting. It started to rain very heavily as we were eating, and it was lovely to see a typical London day since it's famous for its rainy weather. After this we went back to the hostel to figure out what we were going to do for the rest of the day. We sat around for a while and caught up with other groups and then caught the Tube to go shopping for gifts from London for friends. We got several souvenirs and just had fun looking around. My favorite thing we saw today was probably the winter outdoor market at Leicester Square which had a variety of things including jewelry and pretty lights and paintings. Then we got sushi and brought it back to the hostel. It was delicious.

[ada-in-london]

Dec. 31st We started the day with going to see “Amadeus” at the National Theatre. I was surprised that it was playing in the same theatre as “Peter Pan”. I really enjoyed the show and its message. The actor who played Soliere was extremely talented and I was usually very engaged during his monologues. The one message of the play which is very important for artists, and one I did connect to, was the feeling of not being good enough or the fear of mediocrity shown by Soliere. When I watched the movie “Amadeus”, I always found myself rooting for Mozart because I was young enough to see the characters in black and white. Soliere was a murderer and Mozart was a genius who died before he was through creating revolutionary music. Soliere infuriated me. Now seeing this play, I can much better understand where Soliere's character was coming from. I found that one of the most powerful scenes in the show that demonstrated this was when the stage moved with people playing Mozart's music even after his death, and Soliere looked as though he would almost be crushed. The light and sound was so intensely dramatic, and this message was very clear. Toward the end of the play, the story told how Soliere would live to see Mozart's music play on while his own compositions died out. That perhaps was his punishment. The allegories dealing with god were also particularly interesting to me. Throughout the play Soliere questioned why god would have given such talent to such a crude young boy. And at one point when the court is assembled and tries to confront Mozart that there are too many notes in his opera, he goes on one of his rampages and says something along the lines of “I want the audience to feel like god - to hear everything at once.” I loved Mozart's physicalizations and found the way he played the young composer to be quite funny. Later on in the evening Bailey, A.J. and I went to a 1920s New Year’s Eve party at the Bloomsbury Ballroom. We had quite a hard time finding the place and many of the people we asked who were dressed in 1920’s clothes were not going to the same place. When we finally found the building, I was very much in my element. They had a live jazz band playing songs from the 20’s and everyone was dancing the Charleston and dressed as if they were from the era. There were also projections showing various pictures of flappers. It was quite an experience, and when the clock struck twelve there was so much confetti. I'm so glad I got to spend New Year's Eve in this setting with my friends - I don't think it could have been more perfect.

[ada-in-london]

Dec. 30th Today we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Tube was very backed up for some reason so we ended up arriving a bit later than we would have liked. There were so many random things in that museum that we probably didn't even end up seeing half of it. I'm pretty sure we only got to about two floors. I plan to go back to the museum on one of the free days and see more. I really enjoyed the room with My favorite part about the museum was probably the fact that they had one of the original costumes from the absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco. By the time we were tired out and ready to head back, it was almost dark. AJ and I tried to get to the Tube station, but it was closed. We took a bus to another Tube station and nearly got separated. It was a bit anxiety provoking, and we also realized that the two of us getting lost together was probably the worst because both of us have a terrible sense of direction. Our first instinct was to just walk around instead of looking at a map to another Tube station. We probably didn't need to take a bus either because it would have been a relatively short walk. Our common sense was not utilized very well. We eventually found another Tube station and made it back to the hostel. Later, we saw a choral performance in a cathedral which was lovely. At one point, the singers left the stage and went around to the aisles to sing more directly to the audience, which was nice. The church itself was beautiful and the front window design was interesting - it wasn't a traditional stained glass window like you might expect, in fact it looked somewhat out of place with the rest of the architecture.

[ada-in-london]

Dec. 29th Today we were on the lookout for all things Shakespeare. Since there are many things having to do with Shakespeare scattered throughout London, we made use of the Tube a lot. It was very confusing at first, but as the day went on, we got better at figuring out where exactly we were going. The first stop was The British Museum, which had many interesting things on display including some Shakespeare sides and poems as well as some of the world’s earliest recorded music. Although I could not make sense of the notes, you could still see where there were similarities to today's music notation which was very interesting. Jane Austen's writing desk as well as several original handwritten lyrics from the Beatles were also on display. I also enjoyed the early vaudeville exhibit that they had in another room as well. It was very cool reading about London theatre during the vaudeville Era because I had learned about some of it in theatre history. Because there was so much to do and see in many of the locations, we didn't get to everything on the scavenger hunt, but I'm glad that we took our time looking around. Next we went to see the Shakespeare's Head pub at Carnaby Street. The carving at the top of the pub was quite creepy. Perhaps my favorite part of the day was the Sir John Soane’s Museum. This was the home of a British architect who had a huge collection of ancient artifacts. For the most part it was a very intricately decorated and dimly lit place. In one room, paintings covered every wall and it even included more paintings arranged vertically across sheets that had to be flipped through. There were Roman vases as well as countless other artifacts displayed anywhere there was room to place them. The sheer amount of things to look at gave the house an interesting sort of character. I very much enjoyed the museum. We walked along the South Bank toward the Globe Theatre. From the outside it was beautiful, and I really wanted to take a tour of the inside, but my group was tired so we figured we would go another day. Coming back, there was a large colorful mural of Shakespeare. We then went inside Southwark Cathedral with stained glass windows to find a sculpture of Shakespeare within. There were some very interesting food cart options around and I ended up trying a Scottish Egg which I’ve never had before. I think that we will try to eat at food carts a lot more on the trip since they are pretty inexpensive for the most part and have a variety of different options. All-in-all, today was a day to look a little closer at London and learn how to navigate a little better. We walked around a lot today and got to know a little more of what London had to offer.

[ada-in-london]

Dec 28 Our first day in London was a long one. I had slept maybe two hours on the plane because I was too interested in finishing “The Sound of Music” and all of the other movies I had started on the plane. I would regret the decision to watch movies for the rest of the day ahead. When we finally landed in London, a bus was waiting to bring us to the hostel where we would be staying for the next two weeks. The rooms weren't ready yet, and we were all very tired, so in a haze of exhaustion we explored Russell Square. These first few hours didn't seem real yet. AJ, Bailey, and myself decided to walk around and look for food. We found a nice sandwich place in the mall area near the hostel and we ordered sandwiches and coffee. We then looked around in some of the stores and tried on clothes. As soon as it was possible, we went to our rooms to take a much needed nap. Later on in the evening we all took the Tube to the National Theatre to see “Peter Pan”. It was very confusing to figure out the Tube with such a large group and it was quite overwhelming because everyone was running around and trying not to get separated. When we got to the National Theatre, I was amazed first of all, that National theatres could exist, and second of all, by the show, which really struck a chord with me in several ways. The concept of a National Theatre is very interesting to me because the US would probably not be able to sustain such an institution without a lot of backlash and opposition. I was excited to see the differences between theatre in London versus at home. For one, the ASM’s and more technical aspects of the show seemed to be more integrated and obvious. I also very much connected to the themes within the show, but didn’t much connect to the music, which was for the most part very contemporary. This show presented the story of Peter Pan in a fresh light and made me think about the story in more depth. After this seeing this piece, I was excited to see what the rest of London theatre had to offer.