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Pericles Performance Review

  I can officially say that I have seen the most avant garde play after seeing the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Pericles , and I loved it. The play Pericles is about the grief of losing your family, and being lucky enough to find them again. Obviously there is much more that goes into this play than losing and finding your family, but when I think about Pericles , I think about family. When originally reading the program for the Royal Shakespeare Company production, it made it seem that their specific production would revolve heavily around leadership - both good and bad - but after watching their production, I did not really find that to be the forefront of their approach. It seemed to me that they focused more on the loss and reuniting of family. All I could think about while watching act 5, scene 1 was “ that’s how you stage a family reunion!” When Pericles realized that Marina was his daughter, I had actual chills all over my body; it was done correctly in my opi...
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Closure: The Experience of a Lifetime, and Much More to Learn

 What is closure ? Is it the act of closing something? Is it a word that we are using to sum up this past month? Is it both? If there is one thing I know, it is that I am not ready for this summer to come to a close, nor am I ready to sum up this past month. I have been given one of the best opportunities I could have possibly received, and I know that this past month is one that I will constantly look back on.  I came on this trip having very little expectations for what July had in store for me. I knew that I had high expectations for plays at The Globe, I wanted to see historical London, and I had to see Big Ben. I can happily say that all of my expectations have been met, and then some.  I was raised in a non religious household. That does not mean that I did not know about God and the Bible. I had a general understanding, but if it helps you to understand my lack of knowledge prior to this trip, I learned why Easter is celebrated when I was eighteen. During this trip...
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Twelfth Night Performance Review

  This past Tuesday we took a day trip to Oxford and were able to see Wild Goose Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night . When originally reading the text of Twelfth Night , I was actually laughing out loud which is not the case when I read other comedies written by Shakespeare. My favorite character when reading the play was the fool, but unfortunately they were my least favorite character when watching the show.  In terms of direction taken for this production, it did not seem as though there was a clear and defined one. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the production, it felt like one I would have seen performed by a high school. There was nothing that really stuck out to me, and I was a bit disappointed that as a cast they did not really lean into the queerness of the text. It is no secret that Twelfth Night is a queer play, with characters such as Orsino expressing his interest in Viola both when she is Viola and when she is Cesario, and Antonio being interested in Sebasti...
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The British Museum

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 Today was awesome!  I was able to walk around the British Museum (and get lost a few times) and see amazing historical artifacts. Being in a building that large with so many people was very overwhelming at times, but it was worth it to be able to see statues of Greek Gods such as Zeus and Apollo. If there is one thing I have learned on this trip, it is that I honestly have such a hard time believing that the pieces of artwork that I am looking at are the original pieces that I have only seen in pictures. Sure, I have seen statues of Greek Gods before, but I am used to looking at recreations of these famous pieces of artwork.  Statue of Apollo.  Statue of Zeus.  By far my favorite thing that I saw today was the statue of Cupid. When I was looking at it I was reminded of what David told us about a popular statue in Piccadilly Circus. Many think that the statue in Piccadilly Circus is of Cupid, but it is actually of Anteros, Eros' (Cupid's) brother. Regardless of ...
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The Taming of the Shrew Performance Review

  Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is, in my opinion, one of his most problematic and offensive plays. Though this play has been staged for many centuries, it is unclear to even the most knowledgeable Shapespearians if this is Shakespeare’s original text. The Taming of the Shrew was first published in the first Folio of Shakespeare’s works, but a similar play titled The Taming of a Shrew was published in a Quarto roughly thirty years prior. The two texts are similar in many ways, such as overarching storylines and characters, yet the two are also different from one another, such as the character Christopher Sly having more of an involvement in the text of The Taming of a Shrew . Regardless of whichever text is being performed or if it is a combination of the two, scholars (and myself) believe that this is the one Shakespeare play that should not be staged.  After a quick Google search, I found that the term “shrew” has been used since the 11th century, possibly even e...
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Hampton Court Palace

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 When visiting Hampton Court Palace today I was almost immediately in awe of how beautiful and expansive it is. Back when Henry VIII was King, this was where he lived. I was able to walk through his living quarters and learn all about its history, as well as some other remarkable places in Hampton Court Palace such as William III's living quarters, the chocolate kitchen and Henry VIII's kitchens.  Courtyard at Hampton Court Palace. 
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The British Library

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 Today we visited the British Library! There were many cool things to see in the exhibition that we walked through, but my favorite things to look at were the Shakespeare Folios and the Quartos of Hamlet  and Richard III . After taking Shakespeare's Later Works with Dr. Orvis in the spring and being on this trip, I have a much larger appreciation for Shakespeare and his plays. One thing about the folios that I think is fascinating is that without them we would have lost many of his plays, including my favorite play of his; Measure for Measure !  The First Folio. 
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