England Semestre 2008

November 22

2008-11-22T10:47:00Z

Hello everyone!
I'm at St. Gabriel's convent and conference center. I don't really have time to give you a detailed account of what I've done since I wrote last, but I'll give you a taste.
Paris was AMAZING! I had an absolutely wonderful time there. Ask me about it later- I can't do it justice on the page.
We have seen some of the best theatre I will probably ever see in my life. At the end of this entry, I'm going to post the play review I wrote on Oedipus, which starred Ralph Fiennes (one of my favorite actors), for my British & Irish Theatre class. I loved that performance, but I was completely emotionally drained after it. We also saw the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of Love's Labour's Lost, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I never really liked Love's Labour's before that performance. It had a great balance of comedy, earnestness, and energy. It was a lot of fun. This production of Hamlet has been described as the Hamlet of this generation. It starred David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius. It had some really interesting directing choices, such as having the act break occur just as it looks like Hamlet will kill Claudius as he is praying. It was really effective and suspenseful. I would love to tell you more about that production in person, but I feel I must move on right now. Midsummer was incredibly fun. The forest was made up of fairies- in other words, the lovers had to climb through fairies like bushes. The love spells made Lysander and Demetrius completely obsessed by Helena, to the point where Demetrius was dragging himself across the stage like a worm as he was trying to reach her. Puck not only took the spell off of Lysander at the end, but used some of his lines to command Demetrius to return to his "former lady's eye," solving the audience's discontent that Demetrius is still bewitched.

The real reason why I wanted to blog today is to tell you that it's SNOWING here!!!!! Yesterday, we had heard rumors that it would snow in Norwich on Sunday, but this morning I was passing a window on the way to the toilet and through the sheer curtain it looked kind of funny outside. I pulled back the curtain and there was SNOW! I don't think I've ever put on that many layers that quickly! I raced downstairs and spun in the snow for a few minutes (much to the amusement of some of the St. Gabriel's people). I was the only one from our group at breakfast because everyone else was sleeping after the late play last night (Romeo and Juliet), but then Ben Murray came down. He hadn't noticed the snow yet, so his jaw dropped. Then Elizabeth came down and she had the exact same reaction. Then Kristina came down, but she didn't notice until I made a comment. Then she gasped and ran to the windows at the other end of the dining room. After breakfast we woke up a number of people and a large group of us played in the snow. We took lots of pictures and threw snowballs (John Jefferson got pelted by them). A couple of people tried to sled on a trash can lid, but there wasn't enough snow. A couple of others built a snowman. I don't know how I'm going to get homework done today!

Here's my play review:

Oedipus

The whole world fits into the Olivier auditorium in the National Theatre production of Oedipus, directed by Jonathan Kent. An oxidized copper dome, which suggests the Earth, covers the stage and spins towards Oedipus’ downfall. The entire stage rotates slowly, carrying Oedipus (Ralph Fiennes) towards the awful realization of his identity. For much of the play, he paces around like an animal seeking desperately for escape, yet the stage still draws him closer to the climax of his tragedy. An empty doorway to the palace rotates near the center of the stage, as Oedipus’ country and kingship follow the globe’s pull through time. He cannot find constancy within his kingdom or without it. The Chorus members, dressed in suits, mill about like a committee of desperate bankers around a long table and benches that alone remain stationary on the spinning globe. They must witness Oedipus’ ruin, unable to do anything but express their anxiety in operatic counterpoint pleas. The fixed Chorus and audience remain enthralled by the drama they see unfolding, trapped as much in their inability to move as Oedipus in his inability to stop moving through time to the play’s bloody conclusion.

From the opening scene of the play, Fiennes commands the stage with the dignity and firmness of a good ruler. His voice rings through the auditorium with quiet power. In the first few lines, he establishes his rule with kindness and empathy. Fiennes, subtly favoring his feet with their old injury, crosses literally down the stage to bring a citizen out of the audience and places him at equal level on the curved stage, representing his philosophy on leadership and his relationship with his people. However, he quickly becomes fierce and paranoid as he begins to question his past. Oedipus loses control, becoming more desperate as he begins to spit accusations at Creon, the Chorus, the audience, and Teiresias. He becomes so wild and irrational that Teiresias (Alan Howard), before exiting, gently grips the back of Oedipus’ neck as if calming a stubborn child. Yet, Oedipus only becomes more tyrannical when he threatens Creon.

Clare Higgins’ regal Jocasta alone imparts to Oedipus a measure of composure. She, a strong and loving wife, shares Oedipus’ fear and pain. Higgins and Fiennes are swept between fostering utter horror and clutching at the hope that the worst might not occur. They cling to each other, propping each other up in defiance of the worst. They affirm their life and love with kisses and embraces, rebelling against the possibility of their kinship. As they become more convinced, Jocasta comforts Oedipus like a child, subconsciously knowing the truth. Her tears that begin from the reminder of a heart broken by the abandonment of her child for dead turn to tears of despair, disgust, and horror as she realizes the truth of her current situation. She orders Oedipus not to seek any further, but his obsession will not subside. Higgins provides the perfect match for Fiennes’ passionate Oedipus: a firm companion and compassionate lover.

Despite their hopes, the stage still pulls Oedipus and Jocasta towards their fate. Only in the heart-rending moments of Oedipus’ most profound agony does the stage stop moving. Oedipus has reached the moment he was destined for, and that moment is complete stillness except for him. The world holds its breath and nothing exists but Oedipus’ anguish. Walls in the back of the stage open with a boom, revealing a bright, white light that both illuminates Oedipus’ bloody blindness and mocks the fact that he cannot see it. Oedipus reaches towards the Chorus, longing for comfort and human contact, only to have them shrink in horror at his blood-stained touch. He leaves bloody handprints on their clothing even as he assures them that his uncleanness remains his and will not infect them. He pleads to see his children and cannot let go of them despite their horror. Antigone pulls away from Oedipus’ grasp, but eventually settles her head against his chest. Ismene, quicker to accept her father’s embrace, then leads Oedipus back into the palace with her cheek scarlet with his blood. Even the innocent are marked by Oedipus’ downfall, and even the world pauses at his suffering. At the conclusion, the world stands after one complete rotation from the beginning of the play, poised to draw the next person toward other still unfulfilled fates.

Poetry

2008-10-29T21:03:28Z

I am currently working on a paper about "Poetics of Faith" by Denise Levertov. I love this poem and decided to share it with all of you. The indentation is not working properly, so I can't recreate the poem's structure entirely. I apologize for that, but it's a great poem anyway. Enjoy!

Poetics of Faith

'Straight to the point'

can ricochet,
unconvincing.
Circumlocution, analogy,
parable's ambiguities, provide
context, stepping-stones.

Most of the time. And then

the lightning power
amidst these indirections,
of plain
unheralded miracle!
For example,
as if forgetting
to prepare them, He simply
walks on water
toward them, casually -
and impetuous Peter, empowered,
jumps from the boat and rushes
on wave-tip to meet Him -
a few steps, anyway -
(til it occurs to him,
'I can't, this is preposterous'
and Jesus has to grab him,
tumble his weight
back over the gunwale).
Sustaining those light and swift
steps was more than Peter
could manage. Still,

years later,
his toes and insteps, just before sleep,
would remember their passage.

10/29/08

2008-10-29T15:11:41Z

Hello everyone,
I'm at St. Gabriel's right now, which is a conference center and convent (Bethany is very excited). This weekend is our free four-day break, and I will be going to Paris along with about a third of our group. I can't wait!

If you haven't checked my photobucket page in a while, I posted a few more pictures and started to actually organize them a little. It takes a long time to post pictures, so I won't be able to put up very many while I'm here. I will try to give you a sampling, though, of the places I've been.

Since I last posted, I've been in Ireland for about two weeks. We started off in Galway and took a day trip to the gorgeous Aran Islands. Then, we spent a few days at a reconciliation center called Corrymeela in Northern Ireland. On our way there, we visited Derry (or Londonderry, depending on whose side you're on). We visited the Free Derry Museum, where we learned about Bloody Sunday and got acquainted a bit with the conflicts between England and Ireland. I had no idea that Bloody Sunday took place in the 1970s. It is humbling to realize there are very recent massacres, and we are not as enlightened and tolerant as we like to believe.

At Corrymeela, we had several sessions with a playwright. He worked with us on the topic of walls. We spent a lot of time in dialogue about the walls we put up between nations, genders, religions, and individuals. We really got to know each other a lot better in the group as we talked about heavy and personal issues.

In Dublin and London, we saw a lot of amazing plays. We saw Happy Days, by Samuel Beckett, starring Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia from the Harry Potter movies). We also saw Ivanov, by Anton Chekhov, starring Kenneth Branaugh (Oh my goodness!). They were both incredibly good performances. The only unfortunate thing was within a week, five of the seven plays we saw were either disturbing, depressing or both. We were all a little strung-out emotionally that week. After one matinee that dealt with particularly manipulative relationships, Rachel, Bethany, Michelle, Jesse, and I went to the candy cake shop in London. Candy cakes are really rich cupcakes that have a hardened sugar glaze on top that makes them look like cartoon cupcakes. They were really fun and cheered us up immensely.

I'll be sure to update you again when I get back from Paris(!).

I love and miss you all,
Jennifer

Very belated September 13th entry

2008-10-03T14:09:31Z

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written. I haven't had any internet in over a week, and before that, the networks I was using wouldn't let me post anything. I wrote this entry on September 13th, when we were in London. I'm going to try to post again in a couple of days.

After we left Edinburgh, we stayed for a few days in the Lake District, home of many Romantic poets. We stayed at Rydal Hall, which was a cross between a scene from Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and a Jane Austen novel. We visited Wordsworth’s cottage, had many cups of tea and numerous scones, recreated scenes from Pride & Prejudice, and ambled around the lakes and countryside. The Lake District is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

From there, we went to York, stopping at the Bronte sisters’ house (unfortunately it was too wet to visit Wuthering Heights). York is a rather small city with an enormous cathedral. York Minster is one of the largest cathedrals in Western Europe. I had the privilege of attending an organ concert there the day after we arrived. It was magnificent. Several of us also visited Little Betty’s for high tea and “fat rascals,” which are very decadent scones with a golden, crunchy outside and lots of dried fruit inside.

This week, we’ve been in London, and I’ve seen nine productions in six days. Three of them were actually parts of one production called Lipsynch, which was by far the best theatre production I have ever seen. It had nine parts - each centering around a different character (three characters and about three hours per night). It dealt with voice, speech, language, death, freedom, sex slavery, music, mental illness, film, and the ways in which our brains understand things. It is really difficult to describe, but it was unbelievable. I was sobbing during the standing ovation on the third night. All but about three or four of the people in our group gave up seeing Romeo and Juliet at Middle Temple Hall (where Twelfth Night was first performed) on Thursday so that we could see the ending of Lipsynch. It was a difficult choice, but I'm glad I saw the ending. I won’t say anything more about it here, but if you’re curious to hear more, email me or talk to me about it when I get back. I’d love to describe it more in detail to you.

I hope you’re all doing well. I love you and miss you.

Jennifer

Photo update 9/3/08

2008-09-03T11:51:56Z

I started uploading pictures today. I could only manage a few, but it's a start. They're rather out of order, and I haven't figured out how to change the order yet, so I'll change that as soon as possible. I'll get more up soon, hopefully, though we don't have a very good internet connection here in the Lake District, so it may be a few days.

I hope you're all doing well. I love and miss you!
Jennifer

8/28/08

2008-08-28T21:40:58Z

Hello again from Edinburgh,

I’ve been rather busy with homework the last few days, so I haven’t been able to post anything, but I’ll try to make up for it now.

It was really neat to go to a church service in a cathedral on Sunday. I had never actually heard music in one before, only having walked through some as a tourist. I attended St. Giles, and it was a marvelous experience. I fear I missed a lot of the content of the service because of the novelty of it all, but it was still a very moving experience. That evening, I walked by myself across the city to get to Old St. Paul’s Church for an evensong service. The choir was on opposite sides of the altar in an alcove at the front, so the acoustics were stunning. It was a big step for me to go that far alone, but I’ve never felt safer in any city than in Edinburgh. As long as one stays on the main roads and avoids the narrow closes in the dark, there is very little to be concerned about.

The next day, though, was the best day I’ve had so far on this trip (and that’s saying something, because I’ve had some amazing days here). After taking a chunk out of the paper I was supposed to be writing, the group met for a Soweto Gospel Choir concert. I was struck by how honestly their movements and voices were giving glory to God. Instead of performing for us, they were performing for Him and allowing the rest of us to experience His presence with them. After that, we “happened” to meet for a picnic lunch in the Princes Street Gardens in honor of Dr. Delaney’s birthday. Bethany, Rachel (a Wheaton student who is also on this trip and who has become a wonderful friend of mine), and I went to get tickets for a show called Not Stalking David Tennant (AKA Not Having it All). Then, we crossed over into Old Town and walked along the Royal Mile. It’s a moderately touristy road with lots of shops that look somewhere in between the shops where normal people would shop and the plaid painted, kilt-printed towel selling, rock bagpipe music blaring shops that speckle Princes Street and other locales around the city. We shopped for souvenirs. I bought a light blue scarf for me – I had been wanting a scarf – and various other knick-knacks. We found The Nutcracker Christmas Shop, which anyone who knows me well should know that I had to go into. It got me really excited, though feeling in the mood for Christmas in August might be a problem. Anyway, as we were walking towards the venue, there was a man handing out free tickets to Songs for a New World, which I had wanted to see really badly earlier in the week but didn’t get tickets for due to fatigue and a late start time. This performance was not listed in the guide because it was an extra one so they could get a recording. I took this as a sign that I really needed to go to this performance despite the paper hanging over my head. I felt like God was laying it out perfectly so that I could see this show: additional performance, free tickets, we just happened to walk by the guy handing them out. Incredible!

For dinner, we stopped by the most charming pub I could have ever imagined. It was large, light, and looked like something from a novel. I had shepherd’s pie and some unbeatable conversation with Bethany and Rachel. Afterwards, we met Michelle at the venue and watched Not Stalking David Tennant. It was a one-woman show containing four monologues concerning different types of obsessions that people struggle with today, like money, career, beauty, and love. It was very well-done, and the messages will stay with me for a long time.

On the way out, we passed The Elephant House, which was “the birthplace of Harry Potter” where J.K. Rowling scribbled her famous idea on a napkin. Then, Rachel and I parted with Michelle and Bethany, who decided in favor of homework that evening instead of another performance. Rachel and I went to get Starbucks (it was the first open coffee shop we saw) and had some more fantastic conversation until it was time to see the show. Songs for a New World is a musical composed of songs with self-contained stories all giving pictures of life in America. Some of them are funny, some of them tragic, many profound, and all moving. It was a performed by a cast of two young men and three young ladies who were about my age. The music was so beautiful – I still have the songs stuck in my head.

So that was by far the best day I’ve had so far. I paid for it the next day by doing homework for a good number of hours, but I wouldn’t have changed anything. It was great.

I’m really enjoying getting to know the people on this trip. I’ve been able to talk to almost everybody a good deal, and the community seems to be working out well. There are groups of people that tend to hang out with each other more than others, but the groups mingle and flow without anybody truly feeling like they have no place in any particular group. I’ve been talking to quite a few people about it, and everyone seems to feel comfortable with everyone else so far. It is my honest prayer that it remains that way.

I am enjoying all of my classes. I’ll be doing quite a bit of memorizing for my Shakespeare class and for my Verse & Verity class, which I am unspeakably excited for. The Shakespeare class will be performing scenes for the Thanksgiving entertainment. I turned in my first paper for British & Irish Theatre this week. It was a play review, and mine was one of three that Dr. Delaney had us read in class. There is much room to improve, but it was a good start for the semestre.

We’re leaving for the Lake District on Sunday, and I hope to get Edinburgh pictures up shortly after that. I don’t think I’ll be able to post them any sooner than that, but I’ll let you know in a blog entry when I do.

I love and miss you all,

Jennifer

Edinburgh: First Few Days

2008-08-22T21:39:38Z

Hello from Edinburgh, Scotland!
Everyone made it here safely. We are staying in a small hotel (the thirty of us take up the entire hotel!). It is comfortable and very hospitable. I had my first class- British & Irish Theatre- today. We passed out syllabi and discussed the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream we saw last night. The play was very abstract, which turned me off at first, but the more I think about it, the more intrigued I am. It was staged in a circus-style tent, with an array of masks, confetti, and instruments. It was definitely the most unique performance of Midsummer I have ever seen. Yesterday afternoon, most of our group saw a production of Beowulf. It was a one-man recitation of it. The actor was the translator, and he even recited some of it in Old English. It was an enormous amount to memorize, and he only took two swift sips of water throughout the entire two hours. I admit it was difficult to pay attention for the whole time, but overall, I liked it very much. Today, we all saw a production of Our Country's Good, which is about a convict colony in Australia. It was a well-done performance, especially for a high school group, and very moving. This evening, we saw Funk it Up About Nothing, which very surprisingly was my favorite show so far. Despite a fair amount of crass material, it was very witty and surprisingly close to the story. The actors were excellent, and I haven't laughed that much in a long time. We've been seeing Europe Semester people around town, which is really fun.

More to come, but I need to get ready for bed soon.
Love always,
Jennifer

Skype

2008-08-17T19:53:22Z

Hey,
I'm on Skype now (it's an online phone service), so if you have an account, you can email it to me at jmatas@westmont.edu or send me a Facebook message. I will add you as a contact and we can chat while I'm abroad.

Cool!

Getting Ready to Go

2008-08-13T21:42:18Z

Hello,
I'm new at this, so please forgive me as I try to get the hang of this site. I hope this page allows you to keep up with my trip. I'm very excited, and I want to be able to keep in touch with all of the people I care about.

I have less than a week left at home. I'm a little overwhelmed, but with God's help, everything will get done. Please keep all of us in your prayers as we depart. Everyone I've talked to seems to be in over their heads at the moment.

I love you all and miss you already.

Jennifer