The past two days have been intense! Two three hour Creation and Realisation rehearsals focusing on my cut down version of Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine. And I am glad to say that they were just brilliant. The students were committed, enthusiastic and full of good humour. We got a good amount of work done and we left feeling very excited. I am so pleased and proud of those guys and can't wait to create a new performance with them. Tomorrow is a day of first year marking. Third year essays are done now. Research has been largely abandoned for this week, though I do have a couple of book reviews to complete tomorrow.
We've got a quiet weekend in store. The farmers' market is on so I'll go and buy some veggies and some ostrich burgers. I've got some banana muffins to bake, some books to read and some classes to prepare.
Anyways, after getting soundly beaten at squash (though each game was relatively close) and some lovely mince and potatoes to warm me up on this cold, foggy night, D is now making tea and we are about to watch the first episode of a new box set: Yes Minister. Classic British comedy. Can't wait. Given the general busyness of today, tonight is a no-work zone. Lovely.
CSW
p.s. Big birthday hugs to my Daddy, 60 years young today!
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Sunday, 13 March 2011
60th Birthday celebrations
We're just back from sunny Stockport where we've been celebrating Dad's 60th birthday. All very jolly fun! A lovely late night party, a happy walk in the park, some yummy food and a cake with an icing picture of Dad on the top!
Apologies for the lack of posts last week. I was in the writing zone and finally got the Book first draft finished on Friday morning. 74,799 words of brilliance (!?) now sent off to my wonderful reader in Edinburgh. It feels really very good to get it off the laptop and on to paper. And now I can start doing some proper teaching prep! Creation and Realisation play is cut and rehearsal schedule written. Two thirds the way through rereading Dr Faustus - again! Oh, and I have a pile of marking that, were it not in electronic form, could safely form the foundations of a substantial family house. Hmm...a busy week in store methinks! On top of that I have the great privilege of playing the Woman of Samaria tomorrow for a group of school children. All fun!
Research will begin again in earnest when I get up to date with everything else. I'm writing this while half watching the Liam Neeson film Taken on the telly. It's a great film - very interesting and challenging (be warned, it's not for the faint hearted) - but extremely tense and probably not the best thing to watch when you have a slight headache and are preparing for bed. "I will hunt you down, I will find you and I will kill you". If you have seen the glorious Coogan and Brydon vehicle, The Trip recently then that line will make you giggle...which is probably not quite the desired effect of Neeson's original! Anyways, a cuppa and a snooze in preparation for the general joyous busyness of tomorrow.
CSW
Apologies for the lack of posts last week. I was in the writing zone and finally got the Book first draft finished on Friday morning. 74,799 words of brilliance (!?) now sent off to my wonderful reader in Edinburgh. It feels really very good to get it off the laptop and on to paper. And now I can start doing some proper teaching prep! Creation and Realisation play is cut and rehearsal schedule written. Two thirds the way through rereading Dr Faustus - again! Oh, and I have a pile of marking that, were it not in electronic form, could safely form the foundations of a substantial family house. Hmm...a busy week in store methinks! On top of that I have the great privilege of playing the Woman of Samaria tomorrow for a group of school children. All fun!
Research will begin again in earnest when I get up to date with everything else. I'm writing this while half watching the Liam Neeson film Taken on the telly. It's a great film - very interesting and challenging (be warned, it's not for the faint hearted) - but extremely tense and probably not the best thing to watch when you have a slight headache and are preparing for bed. "I will hunt you down, I will find you and I will kill you". If you have seen the glorious Coogan and Brydon vehicle, The Trip recently then that line will make you giggle...which is probably not quite the desired effect of Neeson's original! Anyways, a cuppa and a snooze in preparation for the general joyous busyness of tomorrow.
CSW
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
London's Calling take two
I've just arrived back from my second trip to London in the space of a month and a half. After returning from my last trip, the archivist sent me an email saying that the material I was searching for, that seemed to have disappeared into the ether, had actually reappeared. 'Hoorah', saith I. Cue another trip down to the Capital. This time it was just for the day though, which meant an early train. Given that I was travelling first class, however, it also meant free tea, peace and lots of fruitful working time. You will be pleased to know that this morning I finished the dreaded Greenwood paper. I have lost any ability to discern whether it is any good or not, but it is done and will be sent off tomorrow morning. Double 'hoorah'! So these are the variety of topics that have entered my head today:
1) Guys who wear brown shoes with a black suit almost certainly are not married
2) How I wish that good word processing had been invented earlier! I spent most of the day crouched over barely decipherable typewritten sheets...with pencil corrections!
3) Bodeans' pulled pork is surely the greatest food ever created
4) Oxford Circus is unbearably busy at 6pm on a week day
5) St Pancras station is class (and even has D's favourite patisserie, Pauls) whereas King's Cross currently resembles a set from post-apocalyptic thriller, Children of Men.
6) Muji has by far the best and most reasonably priced stationary
7) Today I discovered a new shop, Uniqlo, which had some lovely clothes. I might get a pair of chinos for summer (NB these last two make it sound as if I spent all day in shops. Actually I spent approximately 12 minutes in shops today on my way back from Bodeans...honestly!)
8) I really like getting up so early in the morning. It is lovely to have a bit of quiet time on the walk down to the station and to pray through the day.
9) How much do the V&A archives resembles a stereotypical Victorian mental institution?! I get a little creeped out wandering down the corridors.
10) How great it is to return home to D after a wonderfully productive and exciting day, knowing that things are just happy right now. I feel like the most fortunate and blessed of ladies.
A varied list indeed! Tomorrow I start on my final book read through. The next few days could be long ones as I approach Friday's deadline. And, of course, the marking has just come in so I get to read a pile of essays. The third years have made up their own projects so I'm really excited to read what they have to say. Phew, I am done. Tea beckons.
CSW
1) Guys who wear brown shoes with a black suit almost certainly are not married
2) How I wish that good word processing had been invented earlier! I spent most of the day crouched over barely decipherable typewritten sheets...with pencil corrections!
3) Bodeans' pulled pork is surely the greatest food ever created
4) Oxford Circus is unbearably busy at 6pm on a week day
5) St Pancras station is class (and even has D's favourite patisserie, Pauls) whereas King's Cross currently resembles a set from post-apocalyptic thriller, Children of Men.
6) Muji has by far the best and most reasonably priced stationary
7) Today I discovered a new shop, Uniqlo, which had some lovely clothes. I might get a pair of chinos for summer (NB these last two make it sound as if I spent all day in shops. Actually I spent approximately 12 minutes in shops today on my way back from Bodeans...honestly!)
8) I really like getting up so early in the morning. It is lovely to have a bit of quiet time on the walk down to the station and to pray through the day.
9) How much do the V&A archives resembles a stereotypical Victorian mental institution?! I get a little creeped out wandering down the corridors.
10) How great it is to return home to D after a wonderfully productive and exciting day, knowing that things are just happy right now. I feel like the most fortunate and blessed of ladies.
A varied list indeed! Tomorrow I start on my final book read through. The next few days could be long ones as I approach Friday's deadline. And, of course, the marking has just come in so I get to read a pile of essays. The third years have made up their own projects so I'm really excited to read what they have to say. Phew, I am done. Tea beckons.
CSW
Friday, 4 March 2011
Jazzing into the weekend
By the wonders of modern technology, here I sit in the LPAC cafe waiting for D and friends and listening to tonight's jazz band warm up at Commuter Jazz. All fun. A good second half of assessment week saw me largely hanging around at home and in coffee shops, writing the final lines of the Book first draft. My self-imposed deadline is next Friday so it could be a busy one next week. With marking and a Tuesday trip to London, it will be here before I know it.
This evening the in-laws arrive for a happy weekend in Lincoln. We are off to our new favourite eatery, Chequers, tomorrow and D is looking forward to his gammon :-) I am wearing my new Levis army jacket (an M&M sports bargain), though it isn't really warm enough yet. The sun hasn't shone in the East Midlands for years and years!
Anyways, here the friends come. See, you get up to date info at Molemaison...however boring it may be!
CSW
This evening the in-laws arrive for a happy weekend in Lincoln. We are off to our new favourite eatery, Chequers, tomorrow and D is looking forward to his gammon :-) I am wearing my new Levis army jacket (an M&M sports bargain), though it isn't really warm enough yet. The sun hasn't shone in the East Midlands for years and years!
Anyways, here the friends come. See, you get up to date info at Molemaison...however boring it may be!
CSW
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
We're all going on a summer holiday...again!
And where are we going, you may ask? Well, the Wardens are off to Beijing at the end of May and I can barely contain my excitement! I have wanted to go to China for many years for three major reasons: 1) the events at Tiananmen Square are firmly ingrained in my brain from being a wee girlie 2) the idea of walking along the Great Wall fills me with unexplainable joy 3) Hudson Taylor is one of my heroes and his tales of China and his love for the Chinese people have long been an inspiration to me. So, all to say, we are really looking forward to our trip.
But for the time being I have a book to concentrate on. Today was very profitable as I sat in a cafe reading Marinetti's Critical Writings and writing the conclusion. And then I watched some great physical theatre pieces as part of our assessment week. Great stuff! The next book proposal will be in by the end of tomorrow and I am quietly pleased with it considering that I haven't had chance to start the research in earnest yet. I am really enjoying my research right now and extremely grateful for all the time I have been given to work on my projects. With all the academic reading I'm doing, my private reading has been sadly lacking. I have a whole heap of books on the go but am making no progress at all. A long flight to China could be exactly what I need!
I'm off for a snooze. I didn't finish assessing until 9pm so it has been a long ol' day. I'm hoping Spring will arrive pretty soon. It is cold here and I have at least four items of summer clothing that I really want to wear. And a new (extremely cheap) pair of Superdry sneakers that need to be broken in. As these are light grey and white, I think they need to be saved for a sunny day!
CSW
But for the time being I have a book to concentrate on. Today was very profitable as I sat in a cafe reading Marinetti's Critical Writings and writing the conclusion. And then I watched some great physical theatre pieces as part of our assessment week. Great stuff! The next book proposal will be in by the end of tomorrow and I am quietly pleased with it considering that I haven't had chance to start the research in earnest yet. I am really enjoying my research right now and extremely grateful for all the time I have been given to work on my projects. With all the academic reading I'm doing, my private reading has been sadly lacking. I have a whole heap of books on the go but am making no progress at all. A long flight to China could be exactly what I need!
I'm off for a snooze. I didn't finish assessing until 9pm so it has been a long ol' day. I'm hoping Spring will arrive pretty soon. It is cold here and I have at least four items of summer clothing that I really want to wear. And a new (extremely cheap) pair of Superdry sneakers that need to be broken in. As these are light grey and white, I think they need to be saved for a sunny day!
CSW
Saturday, 26 February 2011
The Cutting of 'The Adding Machine'
Although today's title sounds like that of a cryptic Sherlock Holmes story, actually it refers to this week's big project. After passing the 70,000 word mark, I spent just a couple of hours a day on the Book and devoted a majority of my time to cutting Elmer Rice's The Adding Machine in preparation for the first year Creation and Realisation module. I had to cut a full length play down to an hour, get rid of the tough American accent and update it slightly to make it relevant for my students. So really it becomes a homage to Elmer Rice rather than a real version of his 1923 play. I also learnt my lesson from last year and did some rather dramatic cutting. While I really enjoyed last year's version of Ewan MacColl's Uranium 235, I felt the whole thing was a little wordy. We didn't didn't really have the time or the space to consider production values. So, this year the written play takes just over half an hour to read aloud. This gives plenty of space for lighting effects, explosions, elaborate costumes etc. Grotowski? Who's he? I'll keep updating the blog with rehearsal discoveries etc, just in case you are interested in this process. Just checked the registers and I have a really lovely group of students to explore this play with. Last year was so much fun so I'm looking forward to getting started with this in a couple of weeks.
It's been a quiet week of research and planning. I've seen a good number of students to discuss their essays and have been able to get on with some book writing as well. Next week we're on to assessment week, although this time round, it is all rather relaxed as I haven't taught on any practical courses. So it's just a couple of German Drama productions and some innovative Physical Theatre performances. And, again, plenty of research time. Hoorah!
Last night we slipped into the weekend with some cool Commuter Jazz and some lovely sushi with our friends. Today has started rather slowly really. For some reason I was extremely tired last night, went to bed early (just before midnight - that is seriously early for us!) and woke up late. Feel much the better for my long snooze. Today is going to be a combination of book writing, rugby watching and cheesecake making. I love our quiet Saturdays. I'm also hoping to do some jobs around our house. It has its messy corners at the moment!
CSW
It's been a quiet week of research and planning. I've seen a good number of students to discuss their essays and have been able to get on with some book writing as well. Next week we're on to assessment week, although this time round, it is all rather relaxed as I haven't taught on any practical courses. So it's just a couple of German Drama productions and some innovative Physical Theatre performances. And, again, plenty of research time. Hoorah!
Last night we slipped into the weekend with some cool Commuter Jazz and some lovely sushi with our friends. Today has started rather slowly really. For some reason I was extremely tired last night, went to bed early (just before midnight - that is seriously early for us!) and woke up late. Feel much the better for my long snooze. Today is going to be a combination of book writing, rugby watching and cheesecake making. I love our quiet Saturdays. I'm also hoping to do some jobs around our house. It has its messy corners at the moment!
CSW
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Today's trip to Sheffield
Good evening folks.
Yesterday I reached the dizzy heights of 70,000 words. It felt rather like scaling the great heights of Kilimanjaro or placing that ceremonial flag on the Moon. All very exciting. I'll get back to it tomorrow afternoon.
Today we had our school trip out to Sheffield to see David Hare's Plenty at the Crucible. What a great theatre! It is in the 'cultural industries quarter' (it's not just 'cultural' but 'industrially cultural'!) and was totally full of jolly theatre-watchers. So, on to the play itself. I must admit I feel it is a little wordy and long-winded. There are some moments of brilliant, witty writing, however. During our post-show chat we considered the tension between personal and public politics. For me, the show is a little too character-centred to really be effective as either a State of the Nation play or as a piece of straight-forward political theatre. That is not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable afternoon's viewing but I remain a little confused about genre and intention. It doesn't seem to give any remedy for the situation and the end is extremely depressing.
The class politics were also a little difficult and I was constantly reminded of Joan Littlewood's accusation that you could only find folks with working-class accents playing servants or comics. Whereas, in this sort of play, the working-class characters generally provide some sort of hope against the backdrop of the demise of the ruling classes, Hare doesn't seem to be making any such claim here. Is a piece politically-engaged in any useful sense if it doesn't offer any alternative? Or is this real politically-engaged theatre, drama that negates obvious, utopian conclusions in favour of a more complex, allegorical approach? I have no answers, only questions...
There was some brilliant acting, including from ex-Eastender Jack Ryder. And the whole play started with a rather striking moment of male nudity that was a little surprising!
Anyways, tomorrow it is more 1-1 meetings with students and then on to research. The next few days are relatively quiet and so it's on with the Book and the second book proposal. I also need to start thinking about cutting The Adding Machine down to an hour.
More tea needed and a good snooze.
CSW
Yesterday I reached the dizzy heights of 70,000 words. It felt rather like scaling the great heights of Kilimanjaro or placing that ceremonial flag on the Moon. All very exciting. I'll get back to it tomorrow afternoon.
Today we had our school trip out to Sheffield to see David Hare's Plenty at the Crucible. What a great theatre! It is in the 'cultural industries quarter' (it's not just 'cultural' but 'industrially cultural'!) and was totally full of jolly theatre-watchers. So, on to the play itself. I must admit I feel it is a little wordy and long-winded. There are some moments of brilliant, witty writing, however. During our post-show chat we considered the tension between personal and public politics. For me, the show is a little too character-centred to really be effective as either a State of the Nation play or as a piece of straight-forward political theatre. That is not to say that it wasn't an enjoyable afternoon's viewing but I remain a little confused about genre and intention. It doesn't seem to give any remedy for the situation and the end is extremely depressing.
The class politics were also a little difficult and I was constantly reminded of Joan Littlewood's accusation that you could only find folks with working-class accents playing servants or comics. Whereas, in this sort of play, the working-class characters generally provide some sort of hope against the backdrop of the demise of the ruling classes, Hare doesn't seem to be making any such claim here. Is a piece politically-engaged in any useful sense if it doesn't offer any alternative? Or is this real politically-engaged theatre, drama that negates obvious, utopian conclusions in favour of a more complex, allegorical approach? I have no answers, only questions...
There was some brilliant acting, including from ex-Eastender Jack Ryder. And the whole play started with a rather striking moment of male nudity that was a little surprising!
Anyways, tomorrow it is more 1-1 meetings with students and then on to research. The next few days are relatively quiet and so it's on with the Book and the second book proposal. I also need to start thinking about cutting The Adding Machine down to an hour.
More tea needed and a good snooze.
CSW
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