Conceal me what I am, and be my aid

For such disguise as haply shall become

The form of my intent.

-Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

This week’s quote is brought to you by Twelfth Night for a multitude of reasons. First, it’s Shakespeare’s best play (in my opinion, I mean, but I’m totally right) and everyone could use a little more Twelfth Night in their lives. Second, we’re working on it in my Shakespeare class and have been doing lots of really in-depth text work on it this week, so it’s been at the forefront of my mind (not to mention the paper I’m supposed to be writing on it for one of my other classes). Also, I got to see an all-female production of it at the Rose Theatre this week. And of course, yesterday was Halloween, so I spent the whole weekend happily disguised. And it was awesome.

This week, as always, was busy and stressful and exciting. We got our scenes for Stage Combat class: mine is from “Swetnam the Woman-Hater Arraigned by Women,” and I get to defeat a character literally named Misogynos. Basically, it’s right up my ally. Our acting teacher Gabby was gone this week, so we had a little extra time during the day, but we were also having extra Shakespeare classes because Yolanda is going to be gone next week (the timetable has been so crazy). Oh, and Yolanda gave out our parts for Twelfth Night. I’m sharing the role of Olivia with my friend Lindsay. I’m excited, of course, but honestly every female role in that play is completely badass for different reasons, so I would have been thrilled regardless of casting. Have I mentioned it’s my favorite play?

Speaking of Twelfth Night, the production we saw at the Rose Theatre was amazing. In one of my first blog posts, I talked about visiting the theatre: a small playing space set on a balcony that overlooks the excavation site of the original Rose. It was cool to return to the space and actually see how they used it – and they used it incredibly well, with some scenes set all the way back on the other side of the preserved site (like when Viola washes up on shore, or when Malvolio is in the dungeon). The ugly concrete wall behind them became basically a cyc, meaning that they could wash the whole space in colorful lights. Also, it was an all-female production of an already pretty gender-screwy play, which was super exciting for me. And it was honestly just impressive that they managed to do Twelfth Night with only six actors.

Wednesday we saw Medea at the Almeida Theatre as a whole class. They don’t really give out programs before shows here; typically you have to pay for them and who wants to do that??? So I was surprised and completely star-struck when the lights came up and I saw Kate Fleetwood standing centerstage! (If you haven’t seen the Patrick Stewart version of Macbeth, please watch it. She’s an amazing Lady M.) The play was a contemporary adaptation that, for the most part, I really enjoyed (as much as you can enjoy Medea, I guess). It was elegantly designed and almost painfully tense. The script got a little repetitive, with lots of shouting matches between Medea and her ex-husband, but Kate Fleetwood’s performance felt like it was constantly moving forwards and building towards the inevitable ending. It was such a privilege to get to see her onstage.

Thursday morning, we had a workshop with an agent who came to talk to us about what it means to be represented and give us some tips about how to get an agent in the future. Then I had a really good Alexander Technique lesson where we reflected on my progress throughout the semester so far, and a fun Audition Technique session working on Phebe’s speech from As You Like It. Friday I didn’t have class until 1pm, but I came in a little early to finish up a paper and to help set up for a party! Our Shakespeare teacher, Yolanda, has a birthday this coming week, but since she’s going to be out of town we celebrated on Friday. All of LDA and some of our other teachers came to surprise her, and we had decorations and cake and everything. It was a really fun end to our week!

 

After class on Friday, I spent a few more hours frantically doing homework so I could be ready for the weekend! That evening we all got together in the flats and hung out in our costumes before heading out. We went to a giant club with lots of spooky decorations and everybody in awesome costumes. Saturday I was super lazy. I watched Young Frankenstein, read a little bit for class, and then watched New Zealand pummel Australia in the Rugby World Cup final. Of course we got back into our costumes and went out again last night!

Today I slept in and did homework again. I’m all finished with just about everything now, except I need to go work on my Movement piece. After that I’ll be free for the night to get rested up for the coming week!