Arrival, the first week

Hello, hello, hello,

Firstly, I must say sorry it has taken me so long to write the first blog from London...I know, you must all just be dying to hear the news! : p

So...where do I begin? I beginning I suppose.

Arrived here last Thrusday and was warmly welcomed by relatives...who gave me a bed, food and much needed attention after 28 hrs of flying...the weather was beautiful and I really could not of asked for a better start here.
Since Monday I have begun my lodging at the Univeristy College of London. Thanks to the Ian Potter foundation, I could afford this incredibly central room to stay in, right next to RADA and all of the city!

And so on Monday, the first day began. We started by doing a our monologues in front of the whole group ( there is 30 of us) and infront of all the RADA staff that will be looking after us for the next 8 weeks. Quite scary in some ways as most of us were still tired from jetlag and disorientated. Like all first days, it was a day of information and one gets so overwhlemed, you eventaully give up pretending you know it all and just shake your head to go with the next load of information. In the past, I would worry I didn't know everything straight away, but I am slowly learning that you only need to know what you need to know when you need it, so there is no need to panic. No need, I say!
And so the week has progressed, with having taken a class for each subject.
The subjects are of course on Shakesopeare and his text, but also technique classes, as you would get at any acting school-voice, body, movement. Our subjects go from Language and style, Voice into text, Laban, Alexander, Stage Combat, Elizabethan dance (later in the program hehe), and now we begin work on sonnets, scenes and monologues. We present all of these from week 4 to week 6. In the final two weeks of the course, we work on a smaller version of a full shakespeare production. I'm exicted!!
And so the work begins. This I am grateful for. I just want to work on a script again! I want to be involved in this course deeply, as to  get the most I can from it. I have been exposed to acting school before- I've been through this before...the long days, the cheap food, the tiredness- you go home and you read your lines and then you go to bed. So, really, the oddest sensation for the past week has been living in central London and not seeing any of London yet!
Biggest things I've remembered from lessons this week? The importance of the breath, the voice and body in all of our work as actors. especially for the stage. It's easy to seperate these things into their technical elements- but in the end, whether it be stage combat, or Alexander technique, we always have to bring it back to acting. From the breath, to the thought,to  the intention,to the words, to the end of the line, the end of the speech, the end of the act and to  the end of the play.
But then- we can also not be too hard on ourselves. As one teacher said, everyone has 'things'about their body or voice they feel they need to fix. Everyone has their own personal demons. But even if at acting school, or receving any form of training, you cannot think that these things about yourself are 'wrong' or 'bad' -They just are what they are, and as actors, you need to be aware of them and do your best, but do not punish yourself.
Other thgouths... we cannot be general in our thoughts or intentions, we cannot judge our characters. This is not just for Shakespeare, but for any actor playing any part. If we decide how a character will be, if we decide to use words to judge them, deciding what they are....then discovery cannot be possible!Yes, it sounds a tad farty, but it is true I think. It's our job as actors to come into the rehearsal room with offers...be an open actor!
And of course- the words..the words, the words, the words...Oh Shakey! Your talented bastard!
As actors- when we come to Shakespeare- we don't need to add a layer to the text- you don't need to make up for anything. As actors, we often feel we need to show something, prove we have understood the text, show an audience 'I'm an actor!' Yes, we know! Shakespeare knew too though...he knew exactly what the actor needed (because he was one!). He gives Everything  in the words..the direction, the thoughts, the layers, the emotiona- fear, love, anxiety..it goes on and on....
But, an actor cannot treat these words as though it is yet another piece of any old text. It can't be 'a cop out' (as pasty rodenberg says) nor a 'bluff'...an actor can't treat the text as though reading from a newspaper, but once cannot talk in a RSC voice with a leg up in the air, belting out formal poetry...it is poetry, but it is heightened realism...you need to respect the text and it's structure. Within the structure is an unbelievable amount of freedom Shakespeare is giving you!
One more thing...if we look at how shalespeare wrote- each actor only got thir part a few days before to learn, and they only received the line before it, and they would have rehearsed the play, only once through before having an audience. And in that , maybe 3 hrs they had to rehearse, did they get time to maybe rehearse soe of the fights and dances. Then they were on. When you look at the text, Shakespeare is gving instruction in all of it...the actors have no choice but to listen, because they are alwasy, at the very least, waiting for their cue line, they are listening to where they should be on the stage...its actually quite incredible!
And, another point a tutor made, whiched I loved- we also look at art and think, art is a noble thing- made for the passion, the love, and to teach the world what it  can...infact if you look at one of my above blogs, I went on and on a bit like this. These things are true- but really, most of the time, it can still caome back to entertainment- and that means business and money. Shakespeare wasn't just writing these plays to show us what we are as humans- he was doing it to put dinner on the table! He was making some good money! The investors behind the tehatrees- wanted new plays each day so that the same paying crowd would come each day! Money! Entertainment and money! Alot fo the time, most things in the writing are not from an arty place as such0 it's more rfom what was practical at the time, and what was cheapest or easiest! ha!

And so, anyway,  to finish my week I have had an amazing weekend finally exploring a bit of London...hell, I saw the Royal family on Saturday! I also  saw the big ben, westminster abbey,visited the Tower of London, all that jazz.
 The fist major scene I work on  is between Lady Percy and Hotspur from King Hnery IV...I must admit, I'm pretty ...ah, weak...with my knowledge of the histories ( although I did perform last year in Richard III with the Queensland Shakespeare ensemble, which helped me alot) and being there, in the Tower of London, where so many deaths and prisioners occured, where a chracter I [layed last year ( one of the princes in the woer) was, where the very kings and queens that appear in Shakespeare's plays were once, it is an experience!
So, another week to come. I am slowly getting to know everyone in my course, it is a big group with many different background and skills. Some younger and some older than me, some people experienced, some not so much, but I can tell everyone is learning so much already...
I shall write again next Sunday or some time close too. And.....If you want to know, I'm learning sonnet 76.....hehe
xxClaire