(whoops, skipped Monday... here ya go!)
Theatre class today caused quite a debate. We had a critique of the play ‘Brief Encounter’ which we attended last Tuesday evening, and the review of the class was either you loved it, or you hated it. Unfortunately, I was the only one in my assigned group that absolutely loved it...
The film is a masterpiece, so to create a production based on the classic, would be nearly impossible. Making the dramatic film into a comedic theatrical production, with a few added characters with over-dramatic gestures and personalities, loads of symbolism, a new musical take, and a drastic change in artistic stage direction, I thought, was a huge success and contributed greatly to the overall effect. However, others in the group thought it was too over the top, and didn’t like it at all.
I thought it was great with their use of such dynamic movement throughout the entire show. They also incorporated several elements of the film by pulling a screen down and having reels going as part of the show. You would think it was rather silly, however, it was quite effective, especially when they pulled a curtain across the screen and had a train racing across it. The musicians and stage hands were often part of the scene as well. There was one scene where the actors are supposed to be wringing out their clothing, and there is a man on the side of the stage with water and a bucket showing you that he is making the sound effects. Also, later on, the characters are being swung around by chandeliers, and you see the stage hands pulling on the ropes right on stage. I thought both of these were pretty cool. The actors often went into incredible over-dramatized poses to get an artistic, dream-like effect, and I thought this made it rather artistic as well.
Also notable, incredibly notable, were the musicians. I may have mentioned this before in the post where I actually went to the play, but I loved the musicians. They all switched instruments several times during the play, and were part of the show during all of the musical numbers, sang for their character, and also played in the ‘pit’ which was really on stage. It was really unique and I was very impressed with the actions, and the music itself.
So, after theatre class, I went to my International Studies class.
I would like to note a bit about my British professors here, since now I believe I have had a suitable amount of time to distinguish each of their character.
Theatre: Professor S. Slynn
This man is your absolutely stereotypical theatre critic. He is an older, very calm and relaxed man who obviously appreciates the arts immensely. His passion for theatre is evident in every class and show that we go to. Even his body language, with the way he sits cross legged in the front of class, hands clasped together, talking slowly and passionately about the show and its character, you can tell that this is what he lives for. What a dream. I hope that wherever I am some day, I will be able to incorporate such passion into whatever I am doing. He is so laid back, and is all about the experience. He said he would much rather have us going to shows and experiencing the emotion of theatre, along with discussion and critique than writing papers. Regarding side trips on the weekends (as his class is right away Monday morning), when two students didn’t show up, he said he prefer we spend out time out experiencing other places outside of the classroom, and if it were up to him, that is what he would want us all to do.
International Studies 381: Professor M. Dick
This man can be kind of intimidating sometimes, but for the most part, is not too bad. He has an exactly opposite take than our theatre professor, and is much more conservative and by the book. This may very much be attributed to his traditional, British teaching background… as in… not a laid back professor of the arts. However, if you abide by his ideas and are respectful to him, he is really not a bad guy at all. I enjoy what he has taught us about ‘every day life’ in London, and the places he has taken us. However, a lot of times you can tell that he gets frustrated with American politics and the actions they take, as he rants to us about it and almost acts like he is accusing us at times. It is actually kind of funny. “What YOUR government thinks about this is… blah blah…”
History: Fred Murphy
This professor is incredibly proud to be Irish, and lets us know of his pride every chance he gets. He is a really funny, rather flighty old man, but you can tell that he is also very passionate about what he does and is upset that there is only a small amount of time that he tries to cram all kinds of knowledge into. He is really nice and very sweet, and reminds me of a super sweet grandpa figure who gets way too excited about everything.
Life Drawing, Art and Paper, and International Studies 391: Diane Bywaters
Diane is the leader of the Wisconsin group, and I have worked with her before at Point from a drawing class that I took. I have her for three classes, and it is nice being able to work on more of a laid back, personal level with her.
Now, for a tidbit about how the educational system works for me here-
I am staying at a residence hall called the International Students House (ISH) which consists of two buildings: ISH and MTH (Mary Trevelyan Hall). MTH is mostly housing and one of the lower levels serves as a elementary school during the daytime. This is where I live. ISH is more of the reception area, and also has several rooms dedicated to social venues for students including a bar, concert and sporting areas, and the dining facilities. There are housing arrangements here, but not as many since the facilities are for so much more as well. This is also where we have our classes. I am not studying at an ‘actual university’ persay, but my understanding of how it works is that the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point hires these British professors to come into ISH, and we have a room reserved for the day to hold our classes in.
My room is pretty nice, I think anyway. Much bigger than the dorm rooms, even though it is to hold four girls. We each have a dresser/wardrobe cabinet combo and a desk and a bed… obviously. Our room also has the luxury of a kitchen (which I don’t really use, but its nice to be able to brush your teeth in the room), and a walk out patio. Really not too bad at all.
As for what I did for the rest of the day… wrote a paper, went to our meeting for the WI group that we have every Monday, and then came back to my room to organize my thoughts and plan more for when Becca comes to visit. I also talked to Job online for a while, and it was awesome! I miss my pointers!
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