Final Week

With final exams finished by Wednesday, a few students departed early, and the rest of the crew gathered at the London Centre for Thanksgiving dinner. Afterwards, students exchanged hugs and telephone numbers and, in mixed relief and wistfulness, set out to enjoy their last weekend in London. Several gathered that evening at the Manor pub in Eastcote for a karaoke fest.

Click here for more snapshots from the closing day of our Fall term abroad.

Wishing all of the NCSA Londoners a safe journey home --RB & NB

Week 9 in Brief

With finals looming, students spent a lot of time studying and making presentations for their classes. In the Shakespeare class, we had a spirited panel discussion of the theater season, and the Maritime London class featured illuminating student presentations on author Patrick O'Brian and the making of the film "Master and Commander." On Wednesday, Andreas Staab's Modern Britain class attended the London Mayor's Question Time and returned to the Centre for a traditional English fish and chips lunch. Thursday, Carole Machin's Art class met at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which holds a great collection of imperial artifacts.

On Friday, a few of us took an optional excursion to Rochester, Kent, an hour's train journey southeast of London. We strolled down the high street past Dickensian facades (Dickens lived here for a time; several of his novels reference the area), to the imposing Norman castle which was erected after the Conquest to over-awe the local Saxon population. It did that and remains formidable. It was a cold, clear day, and from the battlements we surveyed the town of Rochester, the River Medway widening towards Chatham (a major site of shipbuilding in the age of sail) in the distance, and the spectacular cathedral opposite, our next destination. One John Rutherford, a gracious, eminently knowledgeable guide, escorted us through the cathedral, England's second oldest. Located on the pilgrimage route to Canterbury, this cathedral itself became a destination for pilgrims in the 13th century after William Perth, a Scotsman en route to Canterbury, was murdered in the vicinity and ultimately sainted.

Back in London, the holiday season officially began with the illumination of festive lights on Regent and Oxford Streets, the hub of West End's shopping district. Temperatures obligingly dropped to freezing at night, and the ice rink set up in the courtyard at Somerset House attracted lots of skaters.

Shot of the Day

In Bloomsbury, even the dogs are well-read.

High Notes from Week 8

Early in the week, students were introduced to London's fringe theatre scene with a performance of Much Ado About Nothing by the Centurion Theatre Company. (Pictured above are Napoleon Ryan, director Michael Sargent, and Georgina Carey.)

BBC theatre critic Mark Shenton describes the London fringe as:

that seemingly indefatigable network of rooms above, behind and sometimes beneath pubs and other spaces that allows creative outlets, and often training grounds, for London's army of would-be actors, directors and writers. These venues usually rely on the self-subsidy (and DHSS benefits) of the people working in them, and the passion of those that set up and run them, to keep going.

With tiny performance spaces, and often tinier budgets, fringe productions differ strikingly from their well capitalized neighbors in the West End making millions of pounds each year on blockbuster musicals and big-name revivals. The venue for Tuesday night's Much Ado was the "Courtyard at Covent Garden," located in the basement of the Theatre Museum. The playing space was so intimate that front row spectators could rest their feet on the stage, a proximity some students found unnerving once the show began. We saw several strong performances by talented young actors working, without pay, to break into London's highly competitive entertainment sector. Click here for a student review of the play, and here for comments from The Stage Online.

The morning after the play, director Michael Sargent visited our Shakespeare class along with two of the actors, Georgina Carey (Beatrice) and Napoleon Ryan (Dogberry). They offered lively insights into a number of concerns: Mr. Sargent discussed his vision of the play and the challenges of producing it on a shoestring budget; Ms. Carey and Mr. Ryan spoke compellingly of the appeal of acting before live audiences, the difficulties of getting sustained, subsidized work on the London stage, and the problem of Hollywood stars and investors displacing local London talent.
On Friday, the NCSA and ILACA groups teamed up for a motor coach excursion to Stonehenge and Bath. We toured the ancient stone circle as rain threatened and wind tore across the Salisbury plain. Bath too was bracingly cold, and our visit to the ancient Roman ruins at Britain's only thermal spa was welcome. For centuries deemed restorative, the tepid and sulfurous water is still available at the Pump House restaurant for 50p per glass.

Saturday evening, we had the pleasure of hearing the Highgate Choral Society, which includes our site director Martin Upham, perform Michael Tippet's "A Child of our Time" at All Hallows' Church in Gospel Oak. Drawing upon the tragic figure of a Jewish boy who slew a German diplomat in Paris during WWII, the powerful oratorio meditates on human suffering and the fracturing of families by oppression, with African-American spirituals sounding major themes.

Saturday also featured London's Lord Mayor's Show, an annual parade since the middle ages in which the newly elected mayor rides in splendor through the City. Since 1757, the Lord Mayor has been carried in a fabulously ornate coach that resides in the Museum of London for the rest of the year. Elected by the City Livery Companies, the current Lord Mayor is a business ambassador, charged with promoting London and its commerce worldwide. (My book, Before Orientalism: London's Theatre of the East, 1576-1626 examines, among other things, the Lord Mayor's pageants of Shakespeare's day.)

More photos:

Stonehenge: 1...2

Bath:
the weir
students at play 1...2
at the crescent
sharing photos
tasting the spa water

Shot of the Day

Students react to Stonehenge

Week 7 Digest

This week featured maritime-themed activities and culminated with a celebration of Guy Fawkes Day. On Wednesday, the "Age of Sail" class visited Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum. We saw a special exhibit on “Nelson and Napoleon” documenting the conflict between France and England at the turn of the 19th century. Part of the bicentennial commemoration of the Battle of Trafalgar, the fascinating exhibit included hundreds of items: from French revolutionary artifacts to contemporary English political cartoons lampooning Napoleon to the coat Nelson wore at Trafalgar, holed in the left shoulder where the fatal musket ball tore through his epaulette. We also visited the Queen’s House, a centerpiece of classical architecture designed by Inigo Jones, and viewed the numerous maritime paintings there, including Turner's epic tribute to the battle, commissioned by George IV. Despite the attractions of Greenwich in fall, students chose to consider the observatory from here rather than trek uphill in the rain. Before returning to the Docklands Light Railway station, we admired the dry-docked Cutty Sark, a great merchant clipper ship from the late days of sail.

On Friday, a clear and windy day, the entire group boarded the train for Portsmouth to visit the Historic Dockyard, from which Nelson sailed to meet the French and Spanish fleets off Trafalgar in 1805. We toured his flagship, Victory, viewed the great cabin, gundecks, magazine and hold, and, as wind hummed through the rigging, stood on the quarterdeck where Nelson fell. Centuries earlier, Henry VIII had his fleet based in Portsmouth, and during an engagement with the French in 1545, his flagship the Mary Rose sank in the Solent. In 1982, divers retrieved much of the vessel’s hull along with numerous Tudor artifacts. The remaining timbers of the Mary Rose, dimly lit and under a constant spray of preservative wax solution, are on display* in a special observation hall. After viewing the Victory and Mary Rose and other related exhibits, we took an hour’s cruise of the harbor. Among the sights were Portsmouth’s newly opened Spinnaker Tower and several vessels of Britain’s modern navy, including a Harrier jet carrier, HMS Illustrious. During the remaining free time, some students browsed the Gunwharf outlet mall, while others toured the impressive HMS Warrior, a hybrid steam and sail battleship that dominated the seas in Queen Victoria’s day.

Saturday evening, site director Martin Upham invited us all to his charming home in Crouch End for a cup of mulled wine, followed by spectacular Bonfire Night fireworks* and a barbeque feast. The party was a resounding success, a festive conclusion to an eventful week.

More Photos

Royal Naval College at Greenwich

Student presentation on the Mary Rose 1...2
Inside the Mary Rose observation hall

Students at HMS Victory 1...2...3

Students take in museum exhibits: hands-on knot tying and ship figureheads

Group waiting to board the cruise
Students on the cruise
Portsmouth skyline with Victory's masts

HMS Warrior's figurehead and a huge flock of starlings in the rigging

Evening falls on Portsmouth's street and harbor

Students on the train back to London 1...2

Guy Fawkes Day fireworks*

*Special thanks to Peter Chee for photos of the Mary Rose and Bonfire Night fireworks.

Up next

Photo of the Day

Two students meet a new "mate" aboard HMS Warrior in Portsmouth

Week 6: Back in London

The program was back in high-gear following the mid-term break. Students had a busy week of excursions, starting with Richard II starring Kevin Spacey in a powerful performance at the Old Vic Theatre on Tuesday night. The range of emotions that Spacey brought to the character of Richard was extraordinary, and the modern-dress production brilliantly invoked our media-saturated politics by staging big speeches--for instance, John of Gaunt's peroration on "This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle"--before the camera and then recycling them as video sound bites. Click here for a student review of the play.




The following morning, we met at Shakespeare's Globe for a tour and workshop on Richard II, which the Globe produced in period costume two years ago. We got a backstage look at the facility and learned about the quirks of performance here, with pigeons, rain, or helicopters sometimes impacting the show. It is a pliable, richly interactive space for actors and audience. Our guide, Trevor, took us to a rehearsal room where we sat in a circle and discussed modern vs. classical performance of Shakespeare. We read John of Gaunt's speech aloud in relay, line by line, then phrase by phrase, to test its rhythms.

Wednesday afternoon: The Arts class visited the London Central Mosque, where a guide explained to them various tenets of Islam.

Thursday am: St. Paul's Cathedral. Surveying the tomb of Admiral Lord Nelson, slain at the battle of Trafalgar 200 years ago, students were surprised to see a full-dress Nelson impersonator walking in the cathedral.

Thursday afternoon: the Maritime London class met at the Museum in Docklands for a look at the culture and changes that marine commerce brought to London during the age of sail. Two outstanding exhibits: a spectacular magnification of the Rheinbeck Panorama, which depicts a richly textured urban expanse and an unruly press of vessels gathered to unlade at the Pool of London c1800, when the Docklands were being built to manage the traffic; and models of the old London Bridge, in medieval and early modern versions. We also enjoyed a lively open-air presentation on pirates and privateers from two of our students.

More photos:
In-house lecture at the Globe
Students take the stage and ham it up
Docklands Pirate princesses
A pub break in the "Sailortown" exhibit at Docklands Museum

Next week

Mid-Term Break

It's hard to believe we've passed the halfway mark...Tempus fugit! Over the week long mid-term break, students scattered across Europe (and one even made it home to Oregon). Their destinations included:

Greece: Athens, Mykonos, Crete, Patmos, Rhodes, Santorini, Corfu, Paxos, Antipaxos, Parga
Turkey: Dalaman, Ephesus, Pamukkale, Marmaris, Dalyan, Kusadasi
Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan
France: Paris, Marseille, Montpellier
Spain: Barcelona, Granada, Seville
Ireland: Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Killarney, Cork
Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow
Germany: Hamburg, Munich
Hungary: Budapest
Czech Republic: Prague

My wife Nancy and I celebrated our 9th anniversary in Rome, then rented a tiny car and toured Umbria, Tuscany, Liguria and Lombardy. In Chiavari, I was delighted to reconnect with an old friend. Otto Teja was an exchange student at my high school in San Diego in 1965.

Photo of the Day

Florence, Italy

A chance enounter outside the Galleria dell'Accademia: I ran into two pairs of NCSA students travelling through Italy during the mid-term break.

Everyone seemed in good spirits, despite the 2 hour queue
to see Michelangelo's David. -->

We look forward to reconvening in London on the 24th.

Week 4 Recap

Week four, the overnight trip to Stratford-upon-Avon dominated the calendar. On Tuesday, the students took a pub break at two historic taverns, the Jerusalem (1720) and Ye Olde Mitre (1546), the latter mentioned by the poet and playwright Ben Jonson. Thursday Morning we met at Marylebone Station to catch the train for Stratford. Upon arrival, the group split up—half checking into Chadwyns Bed & Breakfast, the rest into the nearby Green Haven. Once settled, we walked into the old town, past many beautiful Tudor and pre-Tudor buildings, including the grammar school where Shakespeare had his early education, to visit the birthplace on Henley Street. This house has been a site of literary pilgrimage since the 18th century. Writers and luminaries including John Keats, Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and Thomas Hardy have paid their respects here—some, like Sir Walter Scott and the great 19th century actress, Ellen Terry, leaving their signatures etched in the window panes of the birth room. Our next stop was Nash’s House, adjacent to the former site of New Place, the distinguished home purchased by Shakespeare in 1597, where he died in 1616. Only the gardens of New Place survive, and the students enjoyed wandering through them.

After breaking for dinner, we reassembled at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for the evening performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a vivid and colorful production of one of the most popular comedies in the canon. Click here for excerpts from student reviews of the play.


Friday morning after breakfast, we strolled along narrow lanes and through the fields that Shakespeare once traversed to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, a lovely thatched-roof house with great timbers and extensive gardens, where young William wooed Anne. Along with a maze and sculpture walk, the gardens hold many specimens of trees mentioned by Shakespeare, each with a plaque quoting the apt verse, i.e. “Those thoughts, to me like oaks, to thee like osiers bow'd.” After the walk back into town, we paid our respects at Holy Trinity Church on the bank of the Avon, where Shakespeare, Anne, and their daughter, Susannah are all buried before the high altar. Unlike the much trafficked birthplace, this sanctuary held a deeply moving serenity. Many of the students took the occasion to write entries in their journals here. Afterwards, we strolled along the Avon and stopped at the Guild Chapel. During the remaining free time, a few of us took a short river cruise before boarding the train back to London.

More photos:

Outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
On Henley Street
Students' self-portrait
New Place gardens: 1...2
Shakespeare's grave and monument
Martin Upham, site director and tour guide extraordinaire

Coming up in Week 5

Shot of the Day

Group photo op at Shakespeare's Birthplace. Lots of images from the excursion to Stratford-upon-Avon to post in the week 4 recap....stay tuned.

Shots of the Day

There's a signpost up ahead.

Your next stop...

...the drink.

Week 3 in Review

Monday night we joined an enthusiastic crowd at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre for one of the final stagings of an unforgettable show, Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Reconceived by director Kathryn Hunter, with two actors playing old and young Pericles, the genial Patrice Naiambana playing Gower as an African tale-teller, a small, versatile band whose sounds ranged from Afro-Caribbean to Eastern Mediterranean, and an acrobatic cast that swung from ropes to perform shipwreck during the storm scenes, it was an engrossing, funny, and powerfully moving production. As groundlings, we stood in the midst of the action. Click here for exerpts of student reviews of the play.


Wednesday morning, having read excerpts from Sir Francis Drake’s voyage around the world (1577-1580), the Maritime London group met in Southwark at the Golden Hinde, a scale replica of Drake’s vessel. Built in the 1970s and filmed in Japan in Shogun, this ship has also circled the globe—presumably via the Panama Canal, not Cape Horn. In the ship’s relatively small size (102 feet in overall length, 20 feet at the beam, the gun-deck only some four feet tall), we were impressed by the grit and tenacity of Elizabethan mariners—not to mention their short stature! After a free-flowing tour, we held our class session in the Great Cabin, where the gentlemen and officers would have gathered for meals and pastimes.




Thursday morning, the entire group met Carol Machin, the former AHA London site-director now teaching the “British Art & Architecture” class, for a tour of Westminster Abbey. It has been the site of coronations since William the Conqueror’s in 1066, as well as many important funerals, including Princess Diana’s in 1997. The Abbey is crowded with the tombs and monuments of English monarchs and luminaries from Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I to Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Peggy Ashcroft. This year marks the 1000th anniversary of the birth of Edward the Confessor, the Abbey’s founder, enshrined just behind the high altar.

More photos from week 3:

Globe Theatre, following Pericles
Golden Hinde: 1...2...3...4

Shot of the Day

High noon in Westminster. A minute later, we asked a bobby stationed beneath the tower for the time... he actually checked his watch, then laughed, "You got me!"

Photo of the Day

Even the statue of Shakespeare breaks for tea at 4 pm.

Week 2 Highlights

The second week began with a gathering of the NCSA and ILACA groups at the London Centre on Monday afternoon, an opportunity for students from both Northwest programs to get to know each other. The two groups also joined Wednesday evening at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre for an exciting, modern-dress production of Julius Caesar. The staging explores ominous parallels between a thuggish Caesar’s bid for power in Rome and the threats to democracies in the world today, particularly in former Soviet bloc nations. Practicing their skills as theater critics, students in the 21st Century Shakespeare class wrote reviews of the performance, and we had a spirited discussion of the play in class; they were all particularly impressed with the rendering of Caesar’s funeral as a media-managed event.

At the close of the week, the Maritime London class gathered at the Pirate Castle near Camden Locks for a cruise on the Regents Canal. Once a thriving artery of commerce, now the canal offers glimpses of a less frantic way of life: village-scenes in the heart of London. Our aptly named narrowboat was 70 feet at the keel by 7 feet wide. It had a cozy cabin with facing benches and a galley, but everyone gathered at the open prow as we made our way down and up again through two locks, past the London Zoo, and on to “Little Venice,” an area of prosperous canal-front homes and fleets of festively painted, live-in narrowboats, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park. As rain set in, most of us took shelter in the cabin for the trip back to Pirate Castle. It was a good way to mark the beginning of Autumn.