le 8 octobre 2012
today was the first official day of classes, and we did
learn a bit more about what we’ll be doing over the coming year. it’s all still
a bit muddy though, as we won’t get our first term timetables until we decide
which cluster – performance, dramaturgy, or scenography – we want to join, and
the explanation of each of those happens on wednesday (coincidentally, the same
day that we finally get our internet installed). i almost didn’t make it to
school, i was so tired from battling the flu yesterday. the walk to the bus
(about 15 minutes) took way more energy than usual, and the crowded bus played
havoc with my stomach. i made it early despite that though, and even managed to
find the queer section of the library before class started.
we finally met everyone in the course, as well as our main
professor, and played some basic intro games before the master’s creative
producing came in to join us. our first assignment is to create a 1-minute
snapshot of ourselves, presenting it in whatever creative form we choose. i’ll
probably do some sort of dance/movement piece, although i’ve not really
narrowed anything down yet. we’re working with small groups of people from both
classes just to have outside eyes, and everything’s presented on thursday. not
much time for that, but it is a one-year master’s program.
we split for lunch and a few of us (the fish and chips crew,
actually) headed over to the hampstead theatre because the entire school seems
to take lunch at the same time. whomever thought it would be a good idea to put
850 students on lunch simultaneously clearly had some sick sense of humour.
after lunch, all the postgrads filed into the main theatre for a welcome
session, then we broke into groups to do an activity created by a theatre
company that actually resulted from last year’s m-atp group (m-atp being my
course, master’s in advanced theatre practice).
things you learn when working with a group of strangers: you
will love some people, take a liking to others, ignore some, and want to punch
a (hopefully) select few. we had far too many strong personalities for such a
time-constrained project, which was to take data we’d collected and present it
in a theatrical way. when you have an hour to do everything, you really do have
to listen to one other, get sorted quickly, and just run a simple plan.
anything too complex is unrealistic and unfair to a degree, and constantly
going five steps back in the decision-making process will just make people
annoyed. also, recognize when you’re not sharing the air. i’m definitely guilty
of this on a lot of occasions, although i try to reign it in, but if you’re
totally unaware of when you’re overtaking a group that is still vetoing your idea, maybe you should become a bit more
aware. yeesh. anyway, we eventually got things sorted, and the final
presentation was good enough.
afterwards, we were treated to free drinks and snacks, which
our class quickly commandeered. whoops. we’re resourceful, you could say? then
i went with my flatmate and a classmate to waitrose for groceries, got home,
put on the wash, and finally cooked myself a proper supper for the first time
since getting here. shocking, i know.
things that aren’t necessarily tons of fun to discover:
-your
washer doesn’t spin things very well, leaving you with laundry that is almost,
but not quite, wet enough to squeeze out, and in typical uk fashion, you don’t
have a tumble dryer
-the burner
gets hot really fast and you can bet that the oil you’re cooking your
portobello burger in will spurt up into the air, and potentially onto your arm.
it’s almost 10pm, so i think i’ll read a bit and then head
to bed. another full day tomorrow!
oh, also, my friend here introduced me via le facebook to a
queer knitwear designer who also runs a knitting club. and i found an acro yoga
class that is on sunday afternoons, run out of a proper studio with student
discounts, and is on the same bus route that i take to school. yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment