Chicago - day one
Well, it's the evening of day one. Whew! I made it through the first day, and it was jam packed. And we finished EARLY today.
We started at 8:30 with a gathering of all the first years, there are 13 of us. Then off to a short breakfast before heading to dialects class. We're working on the Standard British dialect first. We're covering 4 dialects in 6 classes. So, today I learned about preventing my mouth from moving laterally, and keeping the voice front of the teeth - if that makes sense to anyone :)
Then a break for lunch, and off to directing, where I felt like an idiot.
The class is set up in a discussion format, and today we were discussing the "central transaction" of a play, how to find one and how it influences the directoral process.
Except that we were discussing Chekhov. I HATE Chekhov. He writes comedies in which people try to kill themselves twice, fight over each others lovers and a lot of people die. How exactly is that funny???
So, I read the play - a while ago, but I read it. So to review before class I skimmed the play, got reacquainted with the characters, action etc.
Apparently I didn't read the play like these people read it. They were coming up with analysis that I could even grasp, and debating motives and such. I was lost.
So I said nothing. Very little. I did say some things, but then I didn't say them with confidence, and I felt like i was completely out of place. So I stopped talking.
Then with 5 minutes left in class, the instructor assigns us scenes to direct quickly and perform tomorrow.
I had 5 minutes with my director, and I have to perform a CHEKHOV monologue, tomorrow, for the class. Great. Lovely.
It's on my homework list tonight. Among a few other things.
I don't mind homework, I can deal with homework, and writing and reading, and all that. I can't deal with feeling completely out of place in a competitve program. I begin thinking "what the hell am I doing HERE?"
But, then I talked to my roomie Laura, who is awesome by the way, and she brought up a few good points. First, she feels the same way. She felt like she had read a completely different play.Second, she affirmed that I must indeed have SOMETHING to contribute, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And thirdly, that this is a learning experience, in which we are all supposed to learn from each other. So I should stop being worried about being wrong, take a minute to listen to what the folks are saying and learn from them as well as the instructor.
So, back to it tomorrow with a different mindset. I'll take the monologue and treat it as a reading, that will be worked on and polished, and it will not be about how I perform it tomorrow, but rather how it's worked.
It's just a big risk in front of people I don't know. Guess there's no better way to get to know them than to just put everything out there.
So, tomorrow I have due:
A 1-2 page paper,
A play (read)
three chapters of reading
a scene (dialects)
a monologue
a gathering of authentic sources regarding Little Shop of Horrors. Apparently the dramaturgy instructor doesn't like electronic sources.
It's 10 pm and I have the play to read and the monologue to practice, so I think I'm doing pretty well.
I didn't sleep well last night, the train kept me up and I was worried about Joe driving home. And it was cold in my apartment. Tonight we've turned off the air, and I've grabbed an extra blanket. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.
Tried to cook some dinner and then learned that our stove/oven doesn't work. They were supposed to come fix it, but haven't yet. We ended up using the kitchen in the lounge, which has a nice view of the library, which I will be sure to photograph and share with you all.
I'm tired. But I'm glad to be here. I'm excited about learning from other teachers, pick up some things I can use, hone some skills. The nights are hard, I miss Joe and my apartment, but the days are jam packed! It's always a bit of an adjustment when you uproot yourself and place yourself somewhere completely different.
OOH ! one of the classrooms I'm in has the most BEAUTIFUL view of the lake. The school building I'm in is older, with ornate walls, marble with sculptures. And all the windows are arched. So, in this classroom, it faces the lake, and it has floor to ceiling arched windows with light just streaming in. When we opened the door to the classroom door, light poured into the hallway as if God had entered the room. So, classroom, wood floors, huge windows, lots of sunlight, and outside the windows is the lake, and in the center of the arched windows is the Buckingham Fountain, in full "bloom", and the sailboats were just hitting the lake. Gorgeous. I had to put on my sunglasses.
Unfortunately we actually had to do some LEARNING, which got in the way of my gazing out the window, but if I get the chance, I will definitely take a picture and send it your way.
Anyway - I'm sorry this wasn't lyrical and poetic, but I wanted to give you an update of what going on here. I'll tell you more about my classmates and such as I get to know them more. And I'll be sure to get pictures up :)
We started at 8:30 with a gathering of all the first years, there are 13 of us. Then off to a short breakfast before heading to dialects class. We're working on the Standard British dialect first. We're covering 4 dialects in 6 classes. So, today I learned about preventing my mouth from moving laterally, and keeping the voice front of the teeth - if that makes sense to anyone :)
Then a break for lunch, and off to directing, where I felt like an idiot.
The class is set up in a discussion format, and today we were discussing the "central transaction" of a play, how to find one and how it influences the directoral process.
Except that we were discussing Chekhov. I HATE Chekhov. He writes comedies in which people try to kill themselves twice, fight over each others lovers and a lot of people die. How exactly is that funny???
So, I read the play - a while ago, but I read it. So to review before class I skimmed the play, got reacquainted with the characters, action etc.
Apparently I didn't read the play like these people read it. They were coming up with analysis that I could even grasp, and debating motives and such. I was lost.
So I said nothing. Very little. I did say some things, but then I didn't say them with confidence, and I felt like i was completely out of place. So I stopped talking.
Then with 5 minutes left in class, the instructor assigns us scenes to direct quickly and perform tomorrow.
I had 5 minutes with my director, and I have to perform a CHEKHOV monologue, tomorrow, for the class. Great. Lovely.
It's on my homework list tonight. Among a few other things.
I don't mind homework, I can deal with homework, and writing and reading, and all that. I can't deal with feeling completely out of place in a competitve program. I begin thinking "what the hell am I doing HERE?"
But, then I talked to my roomie Laura, who is awesome by the way, and she brought up a few good points. First, she feels the same way. She felt like she had read a completely different play.Second, she affirmed that I must indeed have SOMETHING to contribute, otherwise I wouldn't be here. And thirdly, that this is a learning experience, in which we are all supposed to learn from each other. So I should stop being worried about being wrong, take a minute to listen to what the folks are saying and learn from them as well as the instructor.
So, back to it tomorrow with a different mindset. I'll take the monologue and treat it as a reading, that will be worked on and polished, and it will not be about how I perform it tomorrow, but rather how it's worked.
It's just a big risk in front of people I don't know. Guess there's no better way to get to know them than to just put everything out there.
So, tomorrow I have due:
A 1-2 page paper,
A play (read)
three chapters of reading
a scene (dialects)
a monologue
a gathering of authentic sources regarding Little Shop of Horrors. Apparently the dramaturgy instructor doesn't like electronic sources.
It's 10 pm and I have the play to read and the monologue to practice, so I think I'm doing pretty well.
I didn't sleep well last night, the train kept me up and I was worried about Joe driving home. And it was cold in my apartment. Tonight we've turned off the air, and I've grabbed an extra blanket. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.
Tried to cook some dinner and then learned that our stove/oven doesn't work. They were supposed to come fix it, but haven't yet. We ended up using the kitchen in the lounge, which has a nice view of the library, which I will be sure to photograph and share with you all.
I'm tired. But I'm glad to be here. I'm excited about learning from other teachers, pick up some things I can use, hone some skills. The nights are hard, I miss Joe and my apartment, but the days are jam packed! It's always a bit of an adjustment when you uproot yourself and place yourself somewhere completely different.
OOH ! one of the classrooms I'm in has the most BEAUTIFUL view of the lake. The school building I'm in is older, with ornate walls, marble with sculptures. And all the windows are arched. So, in this classroom, it faces the lake, and it has floor to ceiling arched windows with light just streaming in. When we opened the door to the classroom door, light poured into the hallway as if God had entered the room. So, classroom, wood floors, huge windows, lots of sunlight, and outside the windows is the lake, and in the center of the arched windows is the Buckingham Fountain, in full "bloom", and the sailboats were just hitting the lake. Gorgeous. I had to put on my sunglasses.
Unfortunately we actually had to do some LEARNING, which got in the way of my gazing out the window, but if I get the chance, I will definitely take a picture and send it your way.
Anyway - I'm sorry this wasn't lyrical and poetic, but I wanted to give you an update of what going on here. I'll tell you more about my classmates and such as I get to know them more. And I'll be sure to get pictures up :)
posted by Chandi at 7:51 PM
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