June 13
Today
we had a semi unsuccessful shopping outing. I really wanted a backpack and board shorts for Spain, and underwear because I was running out of them and I was too lazy to do laundry at
that point (plus there was just never ever time). We went to Primeark (I think that was the name) and it was
insane. It was so crowded and huge
and overwhelming. It was
impossible to get anywhere without getting trampled. I managed to find a 4-pack of panties, but had zero luck on
the board shorts. I asked somebody
where the backpacks were, and they told me to go “that way” and there were no
backpacks there. Then I asked
somebody else, and they told me to go in the complete opposite direction. I still couldn’t find them so I asked
one more person and they informed me that they didn’t sell backpacks
there. That would have been cool
to know the first time I asked.
At
this point, I was kinda frustrated, but I got over it quickly because we had to
hurry to the tube to get to class on time.
Class
was super great this day for 2 reasons: We had it in one of the common rooms in the
dorms. And, We did lots of improv exercises!! This made me miss theater a
lot. It was so much fun though!!
After
class we had a small break before having to leave for the theater, so some of
us went to get Mexican food at a place around the corner. I was super excited for Mexican food
because I hadn’t had it in such a long time..but I was not impressed. There was waaaaaay more rice than
beans, and the rice was all salty.
I miss Baker’s.
We
all made the journey to the Almedia Theater to see the Theater Brothel.
This
was such a cool experience. We
were led backstage, through dressing rooms, and green rooms until we ended up
on stage where we were asked a series of questions. I can’t remember them all, but some of them were like
“Epic, or domestic?”
“Do
you like to play or observe?”
“Have
you ever pretended to be someone that you are not?”
At
one point, the person mumbled something and then growled at us.
This
was all part of the selection process.
The Theater Brothel had 6 plays going on at once, and this selection
process decided which 2 plays we were meant to see.
We
were given 2 different colored tokens and were asked to wait in the lobby.
After some waiting, we were all directed
to our assigned shows.
The
first show I saw was called Tonight Sean
Campion will Lecture, Dance, and Box.
This show was interesting.
It was difficult to grasp what kind of show it was going to be at first
because we had no idea what to expect.
It turned out that it was extremely eventful. As the title suggested, the actor lectured, danced, and
boxed. He would use members of the
audience to “stand in” for particular random characters throughout the play as
he lectured so there was some audience involvement. The overall “plot” of the
story was that he was explaining the life of his relative that had many
different identities. I can’t
remember all of the details. At
one point during the play, it seemed like he was possibly going mad and he stripped down
to his underpants and ran around the lobby (where the play was taking place
btw..not a stage). He would also
instruct us in making paper hats out of a paper filled with quotes that he
would say at various times during the play. By the end of the play, I felt that I enjoyed it, but I
wasn’t sure why because a lot of it was complicated and extremely
contradicting. One of the girls
who saw it with me felt like the play as displaying a man with “multiple personality
disorder.” As a psychology major,
I liked the idea of the play surrounding the happenings of a mental disorder,
but her interpretation of the symptoms of that disorder weren’t exactly
right. The symptoms of
Dissociative Identity Disorder would not really be expressed in the way he was
expressing them because he was so aware of all of the different scenarios and
whatnot.
...... Anyway, I apologize for
the super-tangent.
The
next play I went to was called A Prayer. I was sent to a tiny dressing room and
after awhile we all realized that there was a girl singing in the shower. She
came out in only a towel and [her character] was clearly surprised to see
us. She ran across the room (still
in just a towel which was not covering her ass at all) and threw on a
dress. She was in such a shock to
see us…but it wasn’t really clear why at first.
We all figured we were supposed to be a certain character or group of
characters in the play, but we could not figure out what. She kept asking us questions about
ourselves as a group asking us to perform tasks. She asked if we could make things and she gave me paper and
a pencil and a drew a flower. She
asked if we could destroy things and she handed my friend Marcus a glasses and
he destroyed them. She handed him
a book and he destroyed that as well. The other members of the audience were
kinda appalled at the damage to the book, but she thought it was amazing. Eventually it was revealed that we were “God” to her. The whole play was based on interaction
and improv. It most definitely
intrigued me the whole time. It
impressed me how much the actress was able to think on her toes so well to have
all the appropriate reactions, questions..etc. I probably liked this play more than the first one.
After
that we all waited outside for the other groups to get out of their plays and
as we waited the actress from A Prayer
was leaving and stopped by to say how cool it was that Marcus destroyed the
book and she told her director and he thought it was brilliant. Hah!
