Curtain Call

Just a few more notes and thanks. Joyce from our class took pictures of all of our class guests and is graciously sharing them. Here is a link: Joyce's Photo's
I would also like to thank our program coordinator: Lynne Kaufman. Lynne is a rare combination of being creative, patient and extremely organized. She is a playwright herself and here is a link to her website: Lynne Kaufman

And last but probably most, I'd like to thank Hugh Jenkins who was our all-around London guide and sherpa. He was instrumental in keeping me from getting on the wrong Tube or Bus. Hugh, I would be lost without you.

The picture is from the Theatre Museum

I Know This Much Is True

Ok, Final Tally:

Number of plays seen: 16
Number of Tube trips: 30
Number of bus trips:7
Number of times my towel was changed at the dorm: 3 times a week
Number of times I took a bath during the heat wave: at least twice a day
Number of times I ate breakfast in the dorm: once
Number of chocolate croissants from the bakery I ate for breakfast: maybe 10
Number of packages of Maltesers I bought: 4
Number of times the Maltesers melted in my room because of the heat: 4
Number of pints of Guinness I drank: 8 (really, that's all)
Number of minibar items I consumed: that's kind of a personal question
Number of minor flirtations: 2
Number of minor flirtations with bartenders: 4 (is anyone surprised by this?)
Number of times I went to Harrod's: 1
Number of times I thought about going to Harrod's: everyday.
Number of times I was lost: 3
Number of times I lost my sunglasses: 2
Number of times I lost my tube pass: thankfully none
Number of minutes spent on the London Eye: 30
Number of minutes I wished I was not on the London Eye: 30
Number of times I asked people if I could take their picture: about 20
Number of people who said no: One, a scary guy on a motorcycle.
Number of times I was told to put my camera away: 3, ok 4 or maybe 5
Number of pictures I took: over 800
Number of very nice, interesting people I met: at least 100
Number of times I will think about London when I am home: infinity

It was a great adventure and I had a fantastic time. To see more pictures go to my British Museum page.

Who Could Ask for Anything More?

On Sunday I was up early so I walked down to St. James Park to take pictures of the ducks. On the way back I passed the Queen's Chapel just as the Sunday service was about to begin and so I went to church! The chapel is beautiful, but I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to get thrown out of church and fortunately my camera was flashing the dreaded: "change the batteries" so I wasn't tempted. I went back to the park later in the day to take a picture of The London Eye. The band was playing I Got Rhthym.

All I Want Is A Room Somewhere...

At The Ritz Hotel, forever.

Ok, not forever just until I die, then they can pry my fingers off the minibar door, gather up the tiny bottles scattered on the floor and cast me aside. I love the Ritz!
Although I will always cherish my three lovely weeks at the University of London dorms and the drunk teenagers outside my window every night until 3 AM, I was sooo happy to check into the Ritz on Friday afternoon. This hotel is the perfect combination of security, service and luxury. And there are three bottles of champagne in the mini bar, and the toiletries are by Floris, and they put fresh fruit and sparkling water in your room everyday, and Coco is still working in the beauty salon and... OK I'll stop. Just look at the pictures.

Two Brilliant Minds

In case I forgot to mention it, seeing 12 plays in 3 weeks was my not my brilliant idea but rather the brilliant idea of the UC Berkeley Extension Travel With Scholars program. The course is called: Inside The London Theatre Scene and as you can tell from my blog is it an amazing opportunity to immerse yourself in London Theatre.

The picture above is of our two fantastic lecturer/theatre critics: Matt Wolf and Mark Shenton. They led our discussions and interviewed our guests as well as giving us background information on the plays we were seeing.
Matt writes for the International Herald Tribune and Bloomberg News Service as well as teaching for NYU in London, writing books and making Television appearances and probably 10 other jobs that I don't know about! He has been reviewing plays for over 20 years and has an amazing command of knowledge about the theatre.
Mark is very prolific as well. He writes for The Sunday Express, Theatregoer magazine, the BBC, is a contributing editor for Whatsonstage.com and writes a daily blog for The Stage.He is both a great interviewer and a very enthusiastic theatre aficionado, always willing to answer questions.

On the last day of class we voted for our favorites and Matt and Mark announced the Berkeley Awards. The link above to the International Herald Tribune lists the results at the end of Matt's column.

Celestial Navigation

Our last official play for the program was: The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht. Simon Russell Beale gave a tour de force performance as Galileo and it was an honor to see him in the prime of his career. For many of our group this was their favorite play. The temperature had cooled by the time the play was over and some of us walked back from the National Theatre which is on the south bank of the Thames. It was a beautiful night.

The pictures were taken at an exhibition of Beatles photographs at the National Portrait Gallery (before the guard made me put my camera away).

Bawdy Parts

The heat wave continues. The bad news is the humidity makes everyone sticky as well as hot. The blessing in disguise is that everyone in London has slowed down, people are walking slower, there is less rushing and crowding onto the Tube and everyone is eating ice cream!

On Wednesday night we saw The Canterbury Tales at the Gielgud Theatre. It was naughty as well as nice or as Dame Judy put it "It's quite rude!" The ensemble cast was great, the staging was inventive and really how can you go wrong with sex, greed, jealously and chicken puppets?

The pictures were taken in a Tapas Restaurant near Covent Garden and in Soho.

The Bliss of Dame Judy

On Tuesday night we saw the Noel Coward play Hayfever starring Judy Dench. She led a superb ensemble cast, playing Judith Bliss of the awful and yet delightful Bliss family.
On Wednesday, Dame Judy was our guest in class!

We were all a twitter and one person remarked that it was like waiting for the Queen. I have to say she did not disappoint,
she was lovely and engaging and very gracious. It was definitely one of the highlights of this whole experience.

The picture is of Venus reclining on her lover. It is from the British Museum.