Less than 30 days 'til the end...

So I want to say “Hello there!” to those who have been keeping up with my blog while I have not… laziness is an issue of mine when there’s so much going on around me and a lot of my time is dealing with classes. This is seriously the first time in a semester where I’ve been in a Theatre setting where all my classes revolve around it. I think for a reason I’m glad that I’m realizing this now because it can be tough work sometimes working 8-9 hour days in classes and since this is supposed to be my job in the future it helps a little to be in that mind set. Then again, however, I won’t be dealing with as many different things (mainly subjects) at once as college has certainly put upon me.

My schedule for the week is usually this (and let me remind you all I'm a night owl so this schedule works and doesn't at the same time):

Monday
4:15PM-6:15PM Devising
Usually after, I have a play to see for class...
Tuesday
9AM-11:30AM Movement
LUNCH BREAK
1PM-3:30PM Acting
3:45PM-6:15PM Devising
Wednesday
10AM-1PM Voice
Thursday
1PM-3:30PM Acting
SHORT BREAK
4PM-6:30PM Movement
6:30PM-9PM Contemporary Irish Drama
Usually after, I have a play to see for class...
Friday
8:45AM-10:45AM Voice

I’ve neglected in doing some of the basic stuff, such as documenting my ways to where I go Tuesdays through Thursdays at the IES Centre and Mondays through Fridays to the Gaiety. I have a couple places yet to visit in Dublin itself for picture taking, such as Trinity College and the Famine Memorial. I have not shown much of the Dundrum Town Centre and the Luas as I’ve been planning on. Also, as most may know already I was in fact the Luas for Halloween (in purple leggings, yellow tights for my arms, and some nice extra flashiness all made by myself and only cost me €28 to make). Just in case you were wondering about this masterpiece:

LONDON was just as amazing as I thought it would be. From taking the tube all over to getting to experience Shakespeare's Globe. From seeing Big Ben to getting to go and see my friend Cat Van Dort in Canterbury. Everything about London for me was just as exciting as Dublin is. I arrived and we were already put into a somewhat rush in just getting things out of the way. Eating, putting our stuff in the hostel, taking a walking tour, getting lost around the town to find our way back, seeing the plays, seeing the amazing sites (small and big), and just enjoying what we could. I must also mention that for me, the most amazing thing I saw there was, besides the obvious big things, was that literally on almost every corner of Convent Garden and the surrounding areas there was a theatre. Mamma Mia to Wicked to Hairspray to even The Shawshank Redemption! It just showed me how much people hold theatre to such high regard there. I mean, since I've never been to New York's Broadway, I had a feeling this is what it was like. I really, REALLY, liked that.

As for the plays we saw in London:

• War Horse - I found this show to be visually and conceptually amazing. It took puppets to represent the animals, mainly the horses, and completely made a story that made me so involved that I completely forgot how these supposed puppets were existent. I thought these were real horses within 15 minutes of the show. The mare to the full adult horse, minus the weird nah screaming, was completely on sync and in line with making a believer out of myself. The show itself was very intriguing and especially had moments where I was felt like I was in this play even when I was sitting in the balcony level.

• Endgame - Samuel Beckett's works have always been a little on the 50/50 side with me because he's such an intricate writer that sometimes it can bother me that it's so precise. When watching this play, I really enjoyed the acting, but there were points that I felt like I was going to fall asleep, mainly from the exhausting day but also because the times where the character who sits in the chair wouldn't make his movements as extravagant as he had been it seemed to lose my connection. Overall though, the other characters were amazing, never losing my interest.

• If There is I Haven't Found It Yet - A brand new play to premiere at the Bush Theatre, sometimes known for making it's way to bigger productions, about a family dealing with the issues of accepting things in life. A bigger girl dealing with high school issues while also dealing with her issues with her nurse mother and book writing philosophical father, and enter crazy pot smoking uncle. Overall, this was a very interesting show, I absolutely loved all the actors portrayals of the characters, except for the girl (who seemed for me to be almost trying to act a lot of the time throughout the show). Nonetheless, I bought the script for the show.

• Many Roads to Paradise - This show was a mix for me. It dealt with the relationships and maturity that involves those said relationships. Taking a gay and lesbian couple, throwing in a mix of an elderly woman and her nurse, to show the different sides of relationships from each view from religious to sexual. Overall, I thought it was a very interesting show, but the theatre seats could have been more comfortable!

I am planning one final place in Ireland to visit this upcoming weekend, CORK (also known for the infamous Blarney Stone)! It’s been on my list of things to see since I’ve arrived in Ireland and I figure if I can’t get to Belfast to visit Giant’s Causeway, I’d stick to my original plan of seeing if I can obtain the “gift of gab” (though I think some people would prefer me not to extend that as I already do so much talking as it is, haha).

As of most recent developments as well, I wanted to state that I have my cut my hair from the longer side I let show during the summer. I originally was still going to keep it longer but the barbershop didn’t really understand I wanted an inch of hair off, but more an inch of hair. Alas, I can’t be upset its hair and it grows back just the same, plus I think it looks rather nice. I’ve also been losing weight slowly but surely, mainly due to Bikram yoga from Movement class and the excessive amounts of walking I have to do around the city to get places. So much walking that my shoes I bought for my trip here now have holes in the bottom of them. I need to get new ones as they’ve begun to leak in the water from the constant raining every other day here in Ireland. “Four seasons in a day they say”, which is why I carry my umbrella with me almost all the time. I have officially broken this umbrella now but this time due to natural causes of the wind and I still attempt to use it to the best of my abilities without getting blown away.

Another issue that has begun to rear its ugly head is MONEY. I’m no longer in the running for any regular source of money except for a few bucks here and there whenever my mother can spare it for me (God bless her for all that she does!). I am running on the credit card mainly now, and I’m already way past the debt what I originally wanted to be at. I spend on groceries about €20-30 per week plus adding in my lunches and dinners outside of the apartment, when I have no time in between my schedule, take it to about €40. That roughly $59.26! I think it can be rather ridiculous, but I’m trying not to let that affect me too much as I find having to eat more important than starving honestly.

As the title of this blog entry indicates, we have less than thirty days until the end. I am in a somewhat mood of relief and sadness that I can't really describe completely unless you have lived somewhere outside of your normal surroundings for a long extended period of time. As I want to not think about this at the moment, I think I will save this part for a later entry. However, I will talk about our acting showcase that is set for December 9th. We have finally gotten things together and I think when we get it all together it will be an amazing experience. For Movement, we are taking a somewhat Alice in Wonderland approach with things being normal to being totally turned strange. For Acting, we are doing scenes from Brian Friel plays. My scene is from Philadelphia, Here I Come and I'm playing Tom. The character is a lacky who is seemingly, pardon the expression, but an asshole. It so far has been fun to portray the character as it is close to Alfred Mangan from Heartbreak House. For Voice, we are doing our theme of "food (to the extreme)" with taking a que from A Modest Proposal, substituting children for food to being starving last supper-esque characters sloppily eating whatever is put in front of us. To even (if it becomes a possibility in our timing) singing "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd! And as for Devising, we are doing our Edvard Munch painting pieces that we had made out of nothing a while back. This time, however, making it like we're in a gallery looking at paintings while also doing our scenes, and even BEING the paintings themselves coming to life. I think this will be an amazing show, when we get it all together, it's just a bit all over the place at the moment. I have no fear that it will be supremely difficult though. I do think that the papers we have left to write for each of these classes (6!) is one thing I'm not looking forward to. They are all due on the same day as well, the day of our showcase. I have a feeling I will be stressing myself out very soon.

So again, sorry for not updating like I should be, but unlike this picture, we don't just lie on the ground and do nothing all day.

love and respect,

Christopher

p.s. the next blog entry will be another picture montage of my fav pics from London!