Second Star to the Right: National Theatre....Treasure

Creativity for this week's blog title was....lacking I suppose. I was getting a National Treasure vibe from having seen Cleopatra's Needle and journeying into the belly of the National Theatre...National Treasure. National Theatre. I combined them....it's a thing.
Today was an interesting day because I think we all sort of pooped out for a bit. We had no classes in the morning, but next Monday we have three different essays due between our classes, so most of us stayed inside and worked on those or slept for much of the afternoon. I fell into the former category, as I worked on getting those essays written. It went well for a bit, but then I got distracted and decided to explore the House of Many Doors (our flats). It was productive in it's own twisted sort of way, at least that is how I justify it. We really didn't get up and about until 3:00, which is quite peculiar considering how busy we have been every other day. When you go around doing awesome things so frequently, sometimes your homework decides to gang up on you I suppose. I've got it taken care of to a certain extent now!
A group of us finally decided enough was enough and we took the tube out to Embankment to visit a little park and explore the other side of the Thames. Unfortunately Embankment Park was mostly closed due to construction. I have been so surprised by the amount of construction that has been going on the last couple of days! It has been everywhere! It sure makes me feel right at home though, it's almost like being back in Utah. There have been entire exhibits and parks that have been closed due to the stuff. We can't even really sleep in because the men across the street start working early in the morning! It's been crazy! We ended up having to leave the park, but stumbled upon Cleopatra's Needle. I had never visited this before, and it was a cool site to see! The obelisk is over 3,000 years old and was given to Britain by Muhammad Ali in 1819. It's twin apparently now resides in New York! It looks so amazing, and it's interesting to see a structure like that amongst the modern and gothic style architecture that surrounds it. It was funny because the tide had risen today, so the whole area around the needle was covered with water, so we had to climb our way around to see it properly.
We made our way over to the National Theatre where we met up with our group to have a tour of the National Theatre. I have been to the theatre a few times before to see shows, but it was so fun to get a backstage tour! We visited two of the three theaters, as the third one is currently under construction. To make up for the one theater that is closed, they have a temporary location just off the building where they have been hosting shows. Each of the theaters is a different size, and is based off of different styles of theater. The largest is Greek, the middle sized is more modern, while the smallest is based off of Shakespearean rounds. We also got to visit the inner workings of the theater and see places like the props rooms, dressing rooms, and practice rooms. We couldn't see the shops either, due to more construction. I am telling you, they are tearing things down everywhere! The highlight of the tour was really the props, which surprised me. I was mostly excited that I got to handle items from their theatrical adaptation of His Dark Materials, the trilogy by Phillip Pullman. I adore those books, and wish that I could have seen the play that they put on. Seeing the props and hearing about the set design will do for now.
After our tour we were given a little time to get some dinner, so I went with Jennifer and Kamilla to get tacos from a taco truck! The truck is stationed on the South Bank, an area next to the Thames. It is such a fun area and there are so many things to do there! One of my favorites is the bookstore that sits underneath the bridge. It's so fun! The tacos were great and it was such a beautiful day that we were able to eat them and enjoy the sunshine and perfect weather!
We went back to the National to see The Silver Tassie. It's a play set during World War I, and I was actually quite excited to see it. It was...interesting. The story was pretty straight forward at first, but as the main characters went to war, the play suddenly shifted from a straight play to a musical of sorts. Only they would talk for a bit, move in to some sort of song, and then go back to speaking normally. It was really jarring, and it continued like that for the rest of the first act. When the interval came, we all looked at each other with looks of confusion. It was really bizarre. The second act started as the main characters came back from war, and returned to being a straight play. It was still quite peculiar and used a lot of symbolism. I could see what they were trying to present about the negative effects of war on people, but I'm not sure I agreed with some of the creative choices they made. As we walked by the Thames on our way back to the flats, we all talked about the production. And maybe that is what they were trying to do: open up a conversation. Though it was not my favorite performance that I have seen so far, it was definitely fascinating. Fortunately we can still learn from those things that we may not fully understand or enjoy.

Sphinxes in London!