Playwrights, and pubs, and Greeks...oh my!

Hey, it's Blake!

I am excited to report on our theatrical experiences working in London thus far:

Marlowe: This was an unexpected, but fantastic surprise. Our theatre professor Don Lillie (apparently an old friend of MSU's own Dr. Bob) has written a play about Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare that will be produced in London this semester! Exciting...very!...EVEN MORE EXCITING...Blake is the production stage manager and Sara is the sound designer!!! How is this possible, you may ask? It is a non-profit production and we were in the right place at the right time. We have just started in with auditions and actors are coming from all over the world (Hollywood, Spain, Italy, as well as Londoners from the Royal Shakespeare Company and BBC). This will be an unbelieveable journey and we will definitely keep you posted.

King's Head: Sara's internship is looking up as well! She has been offered a sound design position. Catch? It opens in a week! So that's what she will be doing all weekend. I think that is one of the amazing things about fringe theatre here. Sometimes it is like this:

AUTHOR: I'm gonna write a show!
DIRECTOR FRIEND: Hey! We can do that one! I know a quaint little pub down the street...
AUTHOR: But we need a great cast...
(Hundreds of great cast members walk in)
CAST MEMBERS: 'Ello. We're right thrilled to be in your show!
DIRECTOR: (to passers-by) Hey, you! You are theatre people, right?
PASSER-BY 1: I'm a stage manager!
DIRECTOR: Brilliant!
PASSER-BY 2: I'm a sound designer!
DIRECTOR: Brilliant! You start tomorrow!

It didn't happen exactly like this...but close to it...

The Onassis Programme: So why wasn't I in Oxford with Sara? Well...my internship has begun with a bang...

• I am currently working with a poetry-based company that will be traveling to Oxford this Friday for a performance and later Exeter,
• then move to Medea, a Greek tragedy that spends all next week in Oxford then tours the UK,
• then move to stage managing a new Greek play reading that premieres in London and moves to Oxford (getting 15 actors on a train will be the challenge there),
• then stage manage a travelling children's show about Greek myths,
• then work on a huge children's show that has yet to be released to the press (so more later),
• all the while attending production and design meetings for two or three new Greek dramas that will happen after I'm gone,
• and all the while working from home and in office on the publicity, casting, programs, props, etc. for all of these shows

...whew!...

So needless to say, I am going to be very, very busy. I will attempt to post pictures and info from all of my shows (though I normally make Sara take pictures...)

I think we are officially settled in here. Things like daily shopping and using the tube are becoming second nature, which is a relief since we have so much else on our plates. We miss you all very much!

Cheers!