Early Morning Thursdays...

It seems as if the heat wave that was yesterday seems to have broken this morning. It is cool here, as I drink this cup of coffee. GASP! COFFEE! NO! Anyway, today brings a plethora of things. First and for most I must memorize my lines for Antony and Cleopatra. We open in two weeks! I will be playing Enobarbus which is terrifying because I want to do a good job. This production is through the Shakespeare Institute Players and we will be performing outside. Should be fun.

My last post was about self-reflection, this post is about waking up and seeing that people are not who they really are. Actions sometimes speak louder than words but a simple message goes a long way to prevent misunderstanding. I lost a potential connection in the acting world but for some strange reason, I am ok with that. I realized that this person wasn't that great to begin with, especially with their not so great behaviour on social media. A loss, is simply, a loss this time and that's a-ok with me!

I think this means I am growing up or something...NO....stop that...this is the bit where I dream I want to go to Neverland with Peter Pan or I sing that silly jingle from Toys-R-US..."I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys-r-Us Kid..." This coffee obviously hasn't kicked it. It's freeze-dried which means it's bollocks, basically. Even the ground shit doesn't taste as good in my french press. Give me back my flavoured Dunkin Donuts dammit!

I feel like today I should be doing work for my dissertation. I did yesterday. I completed the additions my supervisor suggest I add and it'll have to be edited at a later date. I probably will give it a read on Sunday and be like "what the shit is this!?" Sometimes you just need to get things on a page in order to move forward. Writing a dissertation is a real nightmare, it keeps you awake, it keeps you from eating, it makes you want to consume all the wine!

And THAT ladies and gents is a brief idea of what a desk may look like when writing a dissertation...that's only a small selections of books. Organized Chaos ;)

Tea makes everything ok...

As I sit here on a lovely Saturday morning, I am using the time to self-reflect. I have a cuppa in my hand and I am enjoying listening to the lively sounds outside my window. I haven't had much time to blog or express my thoughts, but that is expected. A lot has happened in the past few months! I have devised an hour long play based on works by William Shakespeare...performed it...and received a distinction for it! I have had to battle my own personal struggles with self-doubt and perfection, but every day I get a bit stronger. Spending my time here in Stratford has been a truly amazing experience. I have grown so much as both an actor and a person.

I am currently in my dissertation term and I am focusing specifically on the portrayal of Dogberry, Touchstone, and Lear's Fool within performance. So...fools. I think there is something incredibly fascinating to be learned from these characters and I look forward to delving deeper into my research. I am off to the library in a bit...after my tea! I DO miss home, but I will be there in a few months and will then complain about how much I miss England and my friends. For now, the wheel of life keeps on turning and I go about my day.

Cheers,
O

It's been MONTHS

Wow, so in grad school, you don't have time to blog. It's been several months since I've been here in the UK. I've been in a play, performed a devised work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I managed to get two merits on term papers! I haven't written an essay in over six years by the way! I am currently in my second term here at The Shakespeare Institute and I'm loving it.

We are working a lot on monologues and scenes, as well as creating an hour long devised work which we will put up in May. More to come soon hopefully.

Not in the best mood today considering my hair dye was unsuccessful...i.e it didn't really change the colour of my hair! I wanted a darker brown but it just came out kinda brown with red. Damn red hair!

On another note, I'm in two plays...well it's two one acts in a play..Doggs Hamlet and Cahoots Macbeth. Should be a blast!