The Land the Sun Forgot and Bringing on the Bard

Where is the switch? Hello? Is there a light in here?
No actually, this is Scotland they don’t have light during the winter months.
Well, they do but it is fleeting. These days the sun rises at about 8:45am and sets at 3:45pm. That is one short day folks! About 7 hours. And those 7 hours are when we are inside, in class, at work, etc. I gotta tell you for a girl who grew up in the southern part of the US this is a tough adjustment. I am really missing Mister Sunshine. The good news is the Winter Solstice is fast approaching. Sunday December 21st to be exact. Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year. And after that, more and more light will be coming our way. The flip side of this is the Summer Solstice which this past summer was July 20th. On July 20th Glasgow’s day lasted 16 hours and 43 minutes with the sun not setting until 9:45pm. Wow! That is a long day! But I don’t mind a long day of light.

We are winding up for the semester but there are skills to be honed. On Wednesday we met with the fabulous Liam Brennan. He is a graduate of the RSAMD and has had a successful career as an actor with lots of Shakespeare credits. We started to work with him on Shakespeare monologues and will be continuing under his tutelage this week. I attempted a little Twelfth Night for him. It definitely benefited from his guidance. Big improvement! Well, that’s why I am here. To improve. I’ve had very little Shakespeare experience which was one of the major draws of this course. I get to work on my classics and at The Globe no less!

The Globe administrators were up on Wednesday as well. Liam has performed on The Globe stage many a time. He told us about his experiences and the lovely people running our program spoke to us about what we can expect in January. We will be working a lot on The Globe’s main stage. For those of you who don’t know let me explain: The current Globe is a modern day replica of what scholars think Shakespeare’s Globe would have looked like. The Globe is the theatre where Shakespeare did most of his work. In Elizabethan times theatres were outdoors and open air. They didn’t have electric lighting so they needed the sun in order for their day time dramas to be seen. So what does this mean for me? Well, it means I will be layered up with thermal underwear during my classes. That’s right. Outside acting classes on The Globe stage in January! Burrrr! But it’s totally going to be worth it. It is The GLOBE!! I’m so excited!

A week from today I’m off to Poland for the Holidays. I don’t know what kind of internet access I will have but I will do my best to keep you updated!

Enjoy the Holidays my friends! And in lieu of the light and warmth from the sun we all need to illuminate the season with rays of love from our hearts!
Take care!
-m