Stuff in London
I really don’t have time to write just now, so I’m going to copy bits of emails I’ve sent to Sam that cover most of it.
But now I am in London, settling in, getting my life back in motion…my classes are wonderful so far, I’m studying acting at the Globe, and doing many other wonderful things. I am also taking a class where we go see a show every week and then write papers on them. This week we saw a wonderful play called The History Boys, and there was a role I thought you would be just perfect for…they just made a movie, when it comes out you should go see it. And if it ever comes to a place where you are, you should definitely audition for the role of Posner.
I’m living with seven other people, which is an experience, but it’s a lot of fun. Our flat is huge, I still can’t believe how lucky we got, although it is slightly haunted but what’s new about that. It seems like Anna and I (my real roommate, who I’ve been living with for years) never get clear spaces. Oh well. Anyway, the place is realllllllly nice because it is usually rented at great expense to vacationers for one or two weeks over the summer. They’re giving it to us very cheaply for the semester so that it isn’t empty all winter.
Yesterday a few of my flatmates and I took a trip with one of our professors to Sheffield, an industrial city in York, to see a play called The Romans in Britain. It was quite exceptional…when it first came out, a couple of years before we were born, it was actually banned by the censors and closed down. I can see why — it’s very graphic, with a lot of killing, blood, nudity, and even a full male rape scene. But it was amazing and shattering and well worth the trip. We caught a bus back at 1:45 in the morning, arrived back in London at 6:30, got back to the flat at 7:15, and slept until noon.
We’re working on this amazing technique for learning lines and monologues, called dropping in. I don’t know if I can exactly explain it, and even if I can I don’t think I can fully get across what it actually is, but I’m going to try anyway. You lie down someplace quiet, and you take your text (which preferably you have never read before) and you read just the first word. You say it out loud, and breathe, and say it again, until you get something for it — an image, or an association, whatever it is that comes to mind. And you let that sink in, and keep breathing. And then you read the second word, and do the same thing for that. And then, when you have enough words that they will mean something put together, you combine them, and drop in the whole phrase (sometimes it’s two words, sometimes it’s a whole sentence). Usually you get something completely different with the phrase than with the individual words. I know it doesn’t sound like much, and it takes forever, but if you want to unlock your emotions and develop a personal connection to every word of your text, this is the way to do it. It plays haywire with your body, though, so if you do try it, be very careful — definitely do it lying down. Last night I was trying it sitting up in the bus stop, and after a couple of sentences I was shaking convulsively and my hands were seizing up because I was hyperventilating (incidentally, I don’t know if you know the trick for that — if you ever find that you’ve lost control of your hands, usually it’s because you’re hyperventilating and are about to pass out; squeeze someone’s arm as hard as you can and stomp your feet; it brings the blood back into your extremities and out of your central organs, and helps you come back). Anyway, the technique is called dropping in and it’s ridiculous. You find yourself sobbing over the most random words — my favorite is my roommate Anna completely breaking down over the word "table." If you have a new monologue that you’ve never read before, I recommend giving it a try.
(End excerpts) I’m having dinner with Aunty Shirley tonight. My bike is assembled and riding it is scary, I don’t know how I’m ever going to manage this. I took a tap class but it was waaay too easy; I took a ballet class but it was too hard. Story of my life.
Tyler is coming to visit me during his spring break! I am muchly excited.
And now I must go home and drop in until I can’t anymore (usually about 45 minutes).
–Stephanie