Old England and Exams.

I think it's a general assumption that Americans are obsessed with Europe because everything is old.  With England, it's all about Jane Austen, those historical films, Lord of the Rings, and of course Harry Potter.  In England, everything is full of history.  It's what makes Europe so novel for Americans.  Something 150 years old isn't old at all.  Walking around York on Roman walls... THAT'S old.

When the musical theatre society was on their way to Scarborough for the festival, I was looking out at the English countryside and exclaimed, 'That looks like Pemberley!' (As in Mr. Darcy's mansion in Pride and Prejudice).  My friend Dom's remark was, 'I always love when Americans come to England.  They realise that these places actually exist.'

Yes, in England, many things I only saw in movies or read in books, were actually real.  For example:

1. Harry Potter:  Students do wear robes and dine in large halls with long tables and benches.
2. Harry Potter:  'Head Boy' and 'House Leaders' also exist in schools.
3. Lord of the Rings:  People actually sit in 500+ year old pubs drinking pints (no hobbits, though).
4. Jane Austen:  Places like Pemberley actually exist.
5. People do tend to live in castles or old castle-like homes.
6. There are cities and towns that are hundreds of years old... and look like it.
7. Jane Eyre:  The Moors... are moor-like with rolling hills and Heathcliff-like ominousness 
8. People are obsessed with the queen.  And royalty in general.
9. Jane Austen:  People drink lots of tea.
10. There are lots of sheep...

NOW.  The most recent 'old' thing I encountered in England was... EXAMS.  I took my first exam today.  It was six hours long on Shakespeare.  I'm surprised I'm even able to type!  But what was it about this exam that was so... Harry Potter like?  Or just... BRITISH and precise?

When I walked into the exam room I got nervous just because it was an ENTIRE HALL (like in Harry Potter when they take their OWL exams).  There was a man with a desk, a microphone, and a massive clock facing the rest of the room (also like in Harry Potter).  The same old filling out sheets properly was standard, raising hands to go to the bathroom, etc.  We had our 'designated lunch break' and massive panic ensued and we went back into the massive, daunting hall.

But what was it that made me giggle inside after that six hour long saga?  Not only was the 'moderator' so precise that five minutes BEFORE the time was over we had to start organising everything, but what was it...

We had to tie our booklets together.  With a STRING.  A string, I say!  I just thought... surely a stapler would work, or a paperclip.  We are in the year 2010.  It was so entirely endearing.  And it made me think:

Yes.  Coming to England, I sometimes feel like I am living in a Harry Potter movie, or a Jane Austen film, or just... my own vision of England where everything is old and traditional.

I get to do this two more times.  And while I probably won't miss the stress of being in such a formal hall with such strict rules when I go back to America, there's a part of me, in a very nostalgic way, that will miss that sort of - intense, traditional, precision that is... England.

Even those bloody exams with their Harry Potter halls.  And string.

*Edit: When I took my Chaucer Exam there was a student writing with a pen and bottle of ink.  As in... feather and a bottle of ink.  Like what they would've written in DURING the Middle Ages.

"Twelfth Night" at the Royal Shakespeare Company

Today, I had the opportunity to see Shakespeare's Twelfth Night performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Let me start with saying that Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare play. I love the comedy, the language, the protagonist Viola, and the themes of doubleness and mistaken identity. It is, like most Shakespeare comedies, a play where all of the confusion and conflict are quickly resolved at the end.  Despite the absurdity of characters' quick changes in opinion, the play seems to end happily with all characters satisfied and all problems resolved.

A synopsis: Illyria.  The Duke Orsino is in love with Olivia, a wealthy woman who is mourning the death of her brother.  Viola is shipwrecked on Illyria and believes her brother to be dead.  In order to remain safe (as women can't be wandering around alone), she disguises herself as a boy, Cesario, and works in Orsino's company. What ensues is a love triangle where Olivia falls in love with Cesario (Viola), Viola falls in love with Orsino, and Orsino continues to pursue Olivia.  The plot gets even more complicated when Sebastian ends up on Illyria and everyone believes Cesario (Viola) are the same person.  There is also a comedic subplot with the roles of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste, and Maria.  These three characters all pull a prank on the puritanical servant Malvolio.

There's a lot going on here, but what I want to highlight is what made this production so wonderful. A statement: The RSC always seems to find something NEW in the text. The details in which they find new comedy and new specificity make the play so much more accessible to their audiences. As an audience member we are pulled into the world of the play because the actors take time to indulge in the language and find the humor.  They take so much care in each line that we can follow the plot effortlessly.

Nothing is glossed over. Every word, pause, laugh is accounted for.

At Stella Adler my first scene study teacher said "Specificity is close to Godliness".  What does this mean?  It means when you're specific with each word, intention, and movement, everything becomes clear, precise, and the story is told more successfully.  In this production, their specificity was impeccable. In Shakespeare, if you play the details the viewers are not only are able to become absorbed into the story but they can also then APPRECIATE the beauty and the intelligence of his work.

While Twelfth Night is funny, it is a complicated comedy because it deals with doubleness, mistaken identity, and the sinister darkness of betrayal and imprisonment.

Viola's disguise as Cesario evokes homoeroticism between Cesario and Orsino and also Orsino and Olivia. I LOVED that this production didn't shy away from any of the homoerotic aspects of the text:

There is a part of Viola that falls for Olivia when she's disguised as Cesario.  Also, a part of Orsino falls in love with Cesario, whom he believes to be a man.  This is what makes Orsino's marriage to Viola believable: he loved her when she was disguised as a man.  Orsino marries Viola only when he finds out that Cesario, the man he fell in love with, is really a woman.

But the plain reality is: Olivia falls in love with A WOMAN (Viola) and Orsino falls in love with A MAN (Cesario).

Shakespeare, ESPECIALLY his comedies, are full of female friendship and homoeroticism. In the Renaissance, "Female Friendship", homoerotic friendship between women, was seen as a necessary step before women were to enter into a heterosexual relationships. So the fact that Olivia falls for Viola and pursues her allows Olivia to "get ready" for the heterosexual relationship she has with Sebastian (Viola's twin brother). As for Viola, using words of love to "woo" Olivia for Orsino allow her to indulge in female friendship before marrying Orsino. The specificity in this production allowed the audience to see the moments where all of these three characters identified some homoerotic feeling for one another that SURPRISED both the characters and the audience. We saw Orsino fall in love with his servant Cesario and Viola enjoy wooing Olivia. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they made this present. Why? It's a VITAL theme within the play: homoeroticism, homosexuality, and the way in which all of these characters have homosexual tendencies (even though they end up in heterosexual relationships).

More importantly: this was common in the Renaissance. ESPECIALLY for women. But I am repeating myself.

Also, on the concept of homosexuality, I loved how Antonio, the pirate who saves Sebastian (Viola's brother), relentlessly professes his love for Sebastian.  He emphasizes how much time they spent together and how he blatantly loves Sebastian more than just as a companion. His love for Sebastian, though unrequited, nearly consumes him. Once again, this production did not shy away from Antonio's passion for Sebastian which I feel, in most  productions, is underplayed and overseen.

But what was so wonderful about this production was the ending: Viola stays in her "man" clothes and marries Orsino. Even though the text has Orsino asking to FIRST see Viola in "womanly" clothing, in this production, the last image before Feste the fool comes on, is the image of Viola (with short hair, and in her man's clothes) kissing Orsino. What we essentially have is the image of two men kissing. How much more blatant can the director be about homosexuality in this text?

It's vital and so overlooked. But what does this mean? It means that while the marriages are a bit thrown together, what this production emphasized was the pervading essence of homoeroticism and the TRUTH that all of these characters somewhat fell in love with someone of their same sex... even though they married the "other".

Lastly: the other overlooked issues is the darkness of this play. The play ends in marriage, but we have characters who end unhappily:  Malvolio who is tormented and imprisoned and once released not taken seriously, Sir Andrew who does not win Olivia's love, and the unhappy marriage between Maria and Sir Toby. What does this production do? After all of the marriages have happened, Feste sings cheerfully and these four characters walk across the stage sullenly. The production does not overlook the fact that while this is a comedy, this is a comedy that deceptively ends well. Many characters end this play deceived and wronged.

Too many times have I seen this play, and many other Shakespeare plays, interpreted as solely having a "happy ending". These plays seem to end happily, but there are so many levels in which the plays are open-ended. Twelfth Night is particularly dark. It is twisted, melancholic, and violent.

This production left the audience with two provocative elements of this play:

1) Homoeroticism and the fact that it drives nearly all of the characters' feelings in this play.

2) This is not a happy ending. In fact, it's perverse because we have two extremes: happiness and true ruin. And we're left with the image of ruin.

Not all comedies end happily or as cleanly as we would like. Thank you, William. You are truly brilliant.

"I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you." - Malvolio's last line. 5.1

English "isms" I like/would like to acquire

"I can't be bothered" (MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE)
"bin" (trash)
"queue" (The English are OBSESSED with queuing - I tried to hail a cab when there was a queue for cabs... bad)
"well done"
"chuffed" (happy)
"toilet"
"loo"
"straight on"
"bill" (not check)
"trousers" (pants mean underwear)
"knickers"
"ground floor different from the first floor" - the GROUND floor is what Americans would call the FIRST floor so the FIRST floor is actually one flight up. This... I do not understand because it results in me having to walk up another flight of stairs.
"pop in/by/across the road"
"gutted" (upset, disappointed)
"mobile" not cell phone
"phone you" (call you)
"ring" (call)

There are many more that I will post when they emerge from my memory and as I come across them in daily life. This is just the beginning.