Stoned in Dover

Well, there was no ganja, but we did have a bunch of British teenagers moon us and throw rocks at us on the beach of the English Channel.  It was pretty witty banter between our two groups:

"Stop throwing rocks at us."

"We're not throwing rocks; we're throwing stones."

Later on, as tempers flared...

"I wanna know what you're doing throwing ROCKS at us!"

"I wanna know what you're doing in my COUNTRY!"

Just another example of two nations divided by a common language.

Other than spotting a man in a motorized wheelchair sporting an English flag and a Confederate flag, the incident with the townies was really the only hiccup to the day.  

Dover Castle was a scarily large fort built in the 11th century around a 1st century Roman Lighthouse.  The fact that we got to step inside this precarious brick building that was around since Jesus Christ's life was both awe-inspiring and disconcerting, as it probably could have toppled over at any moment.  The castle also had a large keep on the crest of the hill built by Henry II, father of King John, lead character in Shakespeare's "King John," which is the show I'll be presenting to RADAand Tisch faculty in three weeks.  My part is Philip II, King of France and King John's enemy.  It was also fun to walk out on the battlements and to do Shakespeare soliloquies while looking out over the white cliffs and the harbor.

Another cool finding was the World War II underground tunnels underneath the castle.  These subterranean hideouts were apparently where operation Dunkirk was cooked up, and where Churchill used to hang out before going out on a sea-side balcony to watch German and English fighters battle for the skies in the summer of 1941.

From there we went to a pub lunch, then out to the "stoney" beach, and then on from there to relax on top of the white cliffs and look out toward France.  At sunset, we meandered back to the train station and found a bar where we got rowdy and sang Karaoke.  At the end of the night, an older local gentlemen shook my hand and said:

"You're a great bunch.  Thanks for coming."

The lesson here, really, is you can get along with an Englishman as long as you and he have both had a couple of pints.

  

Arts in Shakespeare

This past week was a busy one in preparation for our "Arts in Shakespeare" performance in front of RADA and Tisch faculty.  Our group of sixteen put on an hour and fifteen minute presentation of Elizabethan dance numbers, madrigal singing, sonnets, sword fights, and clowning in front of what turned out to be an extremely intimidating and critical audience.  Despite their reserved demeanors during the performance, many of the faculty said they were really happy with how the presentation turned out.  I'm not sure our dance teacher was very proud of us, but he was a little crazy, anyway. (He told us:  "I want you to think astrologically in your dance: planets are aligning in response to the movements and the measures, that's why Shakespeare wrote 'Measure for Measure.' It all comes back to dance, the music of the spheres. " I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point.)

Either way, it's good to have it over with because now we begin to focus on our Shakespeare shows.  I'll be in rehearsals for an hour-long version of "King John" over the next three weeks, directed by Brigid, who taught our sonnet class.  The next show will be an all-male "Tempest," which I'm particularly pumped up about.  Our last show, which we present in early May, will be all sixteen of us in "Measure for Measure."  Music of the spheres.

I also saw on Valentine's Day "Taming of the Shrew" at the RSC.  Pretty intense production.  They had the opening take place outside of a strip club in a red-light district, and the main character gets tossed out of a window by the bouncer.  The best part was the production went head on into the sexism and did a good job with it.

NYU in London soccer club received another trouncing by English footballers.  This time I was checked into the boards early in the game and skinned my knee up pretty badly.  Final score 11-2.  Phil and I are not slated to be at next week's game.  It'll be good time to get rested and healed.

Stonehenge and Steam Baths

Other than the freezing cold weather, this weekend felt like summer vacation.

I took a school-sponsored trip to the ancient city of Bath, about three hours west of London by bus.  It's a quaint and historic town founded by the Romans during their reign in Britain and then re-vitalized during the Georgian era.  On the way, we stopped at Stonehenge, land of the druids.  In the words of Christopher Guest: "No one knows who they were, or what they were doing, but their legacy remains" --This is Spinal Tap

It was freezing cold at Stonehenge, but we did get to see sheep migrating across the snowy plains past the rocks.  We also took the opportunity to do as many perspective shots of me lifting the stones.   

The cold at Stonehenge was remedied later that afternoon when we arrived in Bath and took advantage of England's only natural hot spring spa.  A 2-hour session in the spa for 22 pounds was absolutely worth it.  We swam and steamed and floated on jet-propelled water currents in the pools, living the lap of luxury.

We also had a chance to visit actual Roman Baths erected as places of worship around AD 300.  We descended below street level to see the steam pools and the aqueducts that the Romans built to harness the water for luxury and medicinal purposes.  Apparently, there were 42 minerals in the water that folks far and wide came to experience a taste of when afflicted with gout, scars from battle, amputated legs...etc.  At the end of the tour, we were invited to try a glass of the Bath water, and it actually seemed to ease my sore throat a little.

All in all, a very fun-filled, educational experience.  Next week we have our "Arts in Shakespeare" performance at RADA.  Will post on that soon.