the curves of your lips rewrite history
To continue with my attempt to describe my wacky six-day holiday...
Monday, as you may recall, was National Gallery day. I spent hours playing games with myself, thinking about what the artist thought of his subject, what the man in the absurd hat REALLY thought of himself and was trying to appear like for posterity. Always fun. :) Plus, I spent some time geeking out in front of the portraits of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, strains of 1776 flitting through my head. Did take a break to sit in one of the indoor courtyards and read Rebecca for awhile, since I had reached a Good Part while on the bus and my feet were tired anyway, but I think I can be forgiven. ;)
When I had made it through the main galleries, I strolled away from the Mall and found my way to Teaism for my umpteenth chicken bento. (WHAT?) When I was through, I wasn't sure what to do next and just started meandering around when I suddenly found myself a block away from the National Building Museum. Now, normally I wouldn't be the least bit interested in such a place, but they're currently having an exhibit on the Globe. Thus, I am SO THERE. ;)
The exhibit itself was... meh. Too little info on the aspects that interested me most, I suppose. They talked about how people have been and still are trying to learn more about the architecture of Elizabethan theatres, which was cool. Then there was a bit on modern reconstructions of the Globe (it only took a few seconds brief examination of the picture of the Globe in London to ascertain they had taken a shot from a production of 'Measure for Measure' during its original run in 2004) and then there was a bit on modern theatres that weren't meant to copy Elizabethan styles (like the upcoming new digs for the Shakespeare Theatre here in DC). The real focus was that they had asked five architects to design a new Globe, something that was founded in the ideas of the original and yet utterly modern. These varied in scope from the HAHAHAHAHANO to the Huh, ok, that's kinda nifty. In all, interesting way to spend a half hour but it made me realise that I'm waaaay more interested in the building as a means to theatre- the focus was more on the theatre as a building, which completely makes sense considering who produced the exhibit. Like, the whole Pillars debate seems SO COOL to me, but only when people are making arguments about how they affect the actual playing space. This exhibit was almost superficial in its brevity that it didn't really touch on ANYTHING that was hinted at- even the final section wasn't explored adequately, IMO.
*shrug*
Ah well- you know me. Anything Shakespeare related and I am SO THERE, so I wasn't displeased really, just somewhat disappointed that it wasn't what I would have created, given the chance. But then, apparently, not everything conforms to my ideals in this crazy world- who'd ever have guessed? ;)
So that was my break! Then came a typical week at school, with the interesting disclosure that I'll be in charge of the Pyramus and Thisbe section of our Folger presentation. Hunh. For someone who flips out as much as I do for kickass staging, I kind of completely fail at inventing it myself, so if anyone has any suggestions they'd care to make, I am all ears. I spent Thursday's rehearsal working with a few kids on some little dumbshow bits and inventing a stage presence and body language for their characters- HAHAHAHAHA. OMG, it was absurd how out of my depth I felt but I carried on like a Brave Little Toaster and hopefully came across as reasonably on top of what I was saying. I stole ideas from 'Roses and Thistles' rehearsals and discussed briefly with each kid how we thought their character should present themselves to the audience. Then I had to try and explain to our Celia what Rosalind was saying about having a 'boar-spear in hand' as Ganymede and- AWKWARD! ;) However much of a lame-o I can feel when asked to step up and do some of these things, I'm still having a ball. We have less than three weeks until the festival and showtime, however, so the crunch is on- we meet tomorrow afternoon for still more extra time to rehearse.
Speaking of crunch (why do I now want granola?), this next week will be WACKY since it's concert week for 'American Mystics' with the CCS. I've been walking around all week humming snatches of 'Peacable Kingdom' and the Whitacre piece we're doing, so I think my subconscious is ready, even when the rest of my brain is concerned about still not knowing all of the notes but heeeey- who needs notes? With a lot of this program, no one would ever notice if I was wildly off key anyway...
Ok, time to DO something. Eastern Market calls my name- must be a Saturday.
Monday, as you may recall, was National Gallery day. I spent hours playing games with myself, thinking about what the artist thought of his subject, what the man in the absurd hat REALLY thought of himself and was trying to appear like for posterity. Always fun. :) Plus, I spent some time geeking out in front of the portraits of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, strains of 1776 flitting through my head. Did take a break to sit in one of the indoor courtyards and read Rebecca for awhile, since I had reached a Good Part while on the bus and my feet were tired anyway, but I think I can be forgiven. ;)
When I had made it through the main galleries, I strolled away from the Mall and found my way to Teaism for my umpteenth chicken bento. (WHAT?) When I was through, I wasn't sure what to do next and just started meandering around when I suddenly found myself a block away from the National Building Museum. Now, normally I wouldn't be the least bit interested in such a place, but they're currently having an exhibit on the Globe. Thus, I am SO THERE. ;)
The exhibit itself was... meh. Too little info on the aspects that interested me most, I suppose. They talked about how people have been and still are trying to learn more about the architecture of Elizabethan theatres, which was cool. Then there was a bit on modern reconstructions of the Globe (it only took a few seconds brief examination of the picture of the Globe in London to ascertain they had taken a shot from a production of 'Measure for Measure' during its original run in 2004) and then there was a bit on modern theatres that weren't meant to copy Elizabethan styles (like the upcoming new digs for the Shakespeare Theatre here in DC). The real focus was that they had asked five architects to design a new Globe, something that was founded in the ideas of the original and yet utterly modern. These varied in scope from the HAHAHAHAHANO to the Huh, ok, that's kinda nifty. In all, interesting way to spend a half hour but it made me realise that I'm waaaay more interested in the building as a means to theatre- the focus was more on the theatre as a building, which completely makes sense considering who produced the exhibit. Like, the whole Pillars debate seems SO COOL to me, but only when people are making arguments about how they affect the actual playing space. This exhibit was almost superficial in its brevity that it didn't really touch on ANYTHING that was hinted at- even the final section wasn't explored adequately, IMO.
*shrug*
Ah well- you know me. Anything Shakespeare related and I am SO THERE, so I wasn't displeased really, just somewhat disappointed that it wasn't what I would have created, given the chance. But then, apparently, not everything conforms to my ideals in this crazy world- who'd ever have guessed? ;)
So that was my break! Then came a typical week at school, with the interesting disclosure that I'll be in charge of the Pyramus and Thisbe section of our Folger presentation. Hunh. For someone who flips out as much as I do for kickass staging, I kind of completely fail at inventing it myself, so if anyone has any suggestions they'd care to make, I am all ears. I spent Thursday's rehearsal working with a few kids on some little dumbshow bits and inventing a stage presence and body language for their characters- HAHAHAHAHA. OMG, it was absurd how out of my depth I felt but I carried on like a Brave Little Toaster and hopefully came across as reasonably on top of what I was saying. I stole ideas from 'Roses and Thistles' rehearsals and discussed briefly with each kid how we thought their character should present themselves to the audience. Then I had to try and explain to our Celia what Rosalind was saying about having a 'boar-spear in hand' as Ganymede and- AWKWARD! ;) However much of a lame-o I can feel when asked to step up and do some of these things, I'm still having a ball. We have less than three weeks until the festival and showtime, however, so the crunch is on- we meet tomorrow afternoon for still more extra time to rehearse.
Speaking of crunch (why do I now want granola?), this next week will be WACKY since it's concert week for 'American Mystics' with the CCS. I've been walking around all week humming snatches of 'Peacable Kingdom' and the Whitacre piece we're doing, so I think my subconscious is ready, even when the rest of my brain is concerned about still not knowing all of the notes but heeeey- who needs notes? With a lot of this program, no one would ever notice if I was wildly off key anyway...
Ok, time to DO something. Eastern Market calls my name- must be a Saturday.