Mass Team Leader Bonanzaaaaaa

Dear Drama Gods,

Last Sunday Zoe, Rachel, Patsy and I all met up with the Choir Team Leaders at Ham House who are getting involved with this momentouse project. Essentially the purpose of the meeting was to give the Teams the run through of the day, answer any queries and show them where they will be on the actual day and at what times they had to be their.

The day started well with us meeting an hour before the teams turned up to just have a run through of what we were going to individually talk about to the choirs and I had the pleasure of talking about the Itineray . We took a nice tour round the grounds to confirm where we are going to put the choir and we were all confident that it should all going according to plan and be a ncie atmosphere for the public when they visit the house.

I started out by actually waiting at the gates and directing the Team Leaders to the Orangery where we were holding the meeting and then i eventually joined the others and listened to Rachel give a lovely review of the schedule for the 23rd of May, going into detail the rotor for the actual Choirs, explaining where they will be and what time.

Then I told them the Itinerary for the day (a glorified rendition of the overall schedule for the day not just involving the choirs) and I must admit i think I could have done better when answering the questions. I was stumped when they asked me about car parking spaces availabale, having to be reminded by Patsy about the Green Policy Ham, and indeed, Ham House is trying to adopt.

After i'd told them the Itinerary Zoe took the Team Leaders on a tour round the gardens showing them the sites at which they will singing, making sure to mention that there will be flags their just incase they forget the site placement. Also all four of us had to mention that it was imperative that they not rely on us to tell them the schedule because we will quite honestly be all over the place on sunday.

All in all i beleive the meeting went very very well. We answered all the queries correctly and the majority of the choirs arrived so we know who to expect for certain on the actualm day. I must admit it all seems more real now and i honestly cant believe this project, which weve all worked so hard towards is next week! Anyone panicking yet?? Ah well we're gonna rock! We all know it : D

See ya later alligator

Supercallafrajilisticexpealliedocious

Hello again Drama gods, no idea if i spelt the title right! But then again who knows how its spelt. Annnyyyyhooo i went to a schools choir concert this morning and actually quite enjoyed myself considering i was expecting to really not to.

It was when the kids sang Candy Man that i got really into it because it brought back so many of my own childhood memories and i ended up singing along. It was good the whole choir team went because it was good to show the schools support considering they'll hopefully be joining us at Ham House. And now finally after this event has finished we'll be able to get some concrete answers from them.

Also the Concert was raising money for a choir in Africa called Agape that has been getting some critical acclaim and the kids even sang some of the songs (Pigogo and Hlanhleyo) that Agape are well know for. These songs i actually really enjoyed and the children did very very well to memorise songs that werent even in their native tongue.

All in all i think the school choirs are going to be more successfull at ham than i first realised!!

To Flashmob or not to Flashmob

OH NO DRAMA GODS SH*T IVE BEEN SHOT

Last Saturday I part in a rather interesting social community event called a Flashmob!! For those of you who dont know a Flashmob (if done correctly) is a massive pretend gun fight, with your hands for guns! Literally this was organised on Facebook and over 400 people turned up in Trafalger Square to take part.

It was inspired by the classic Spaced episode were Simon Pegg and the female lead save themselves from being mugged by engaging so vagrant youths in a flashmob, the theory being that all male teens always play along. So the organiser turned up dressed as Nick Frost (who plays a gun nut in Spaced) and over 400 people gravitated towards him.

At first i was worried id feel a bit foolish but after seeing a literal tidal wave of people drawing their guns in slow motion i got quite into and went for the most lethal weopon my mind could muster! My trusty butter knife!!

It was actually quite inspiring to see so many people turn up from so many different backgrounds to just take part in somthing quite simple. It wasnt even massively organised. It just goes to show what one person can do with the internet and what someone can do if they market an event successfully.

I Have Returned

After a near 4 month absent i have returned! The reason for me being so lame and late with these posts is equall part lazyness and the fact that i actually struggle to find what to say! But anyway im going to move on from all that and remove the self inflicted mental block!

First things first! Im tremendously happy to be back at uni properly since my whole 'health issues' have actually finally, after two years, buggered off. But just to give people a heads up, sadly due to said health problems I can now get a lil forgetfull so i apologise if i get a bit confused with what i have and havent done! Sorry everyone but its a side effect i'll gladly take considering the alternative And secondly im not going to write an epic blog about all that ive done since my last one! because quite frankly everyone already knows that ive been in contact with choirs yadayadayada!

So i shall simply commence with what ive done today and recently! In terms of the choirs and churches its the same old (mainly with churches) i ring up every couple of days and they express all this enthusiasm but not actually give me a definate answer! Whats up with that! Makes me go grrrrr. But oh well i shall go forth and pester mwahahaha

In terms of the meetings, apart from the usual speaking over everyone today didnt go so bad (apart from the room mix up) but it really wasnt the second years fault! im quite glad we left early purely because it gave me and Ben the chance to come up with some pretty decent ideas (i hope) for mehico night on wednesday! Chillie eating contest should be rather amusing : )

But anyway i shall leave this now and i shall return soon with more actual info and not mere musings at the fact im back!

bon voyage Drama Gods

Looking back and Looking forward....

Dear Drama Gods...

Did anyone find it as funny as i did that the guy who gave us the presentation on Friday (Harvey I think) kept referring to Johnny Depp, Ridley Scott and Tim Burton by their first names. The dudes a legend. Anyway i must admit i found the talk very interesting and even after two days its still fresh on my mind. I'm actually going round some movies I have to see if i can see National Trust Properties in. So far i haven't had much luck though. I had no idea that Trust Houses were relied on so much by A list Directors and I think it would be really horrible if they didn't get credited. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the presentation and even though I wasn't feeling very well they still managed to keep my attention. I may come to Harvey in the future with a completely over the top script that i have no possible way in making. Script writings hard though! I actually wrote one that I planned to put on at St Mary's but my evil ex-laptop ate it. Anyway i'm waffling...is anyone else who does the musical really not looking forward to Billy Elliot, I mean the movie was boring, why WHY make a musical of it, and why make us watch it. Oh well at least this way i can be pleasantly surprised if i like it.

Amici and the Power of Yes

Ok first things first! i know this blog is incredibly late and i probably have a bit to say about certain things i've done recently so bare with me! I know at least one aspect of this blog is somewhat interesting (Amici) and another is incredibly boring (the power of yes) so take a deep breath and delve into the waffle i am about to write.

First and foremost the exciting stuff...AMICI. i must admit i was really nervous about going to this dance and physical theatre workshop because for anyone who has seen me dancing at the SU or Oceana really really knows that dance is not listed on my Big Relatively Small List of Talents. And the less said about my physical theatre talents the better. Anyway! i hopped on the 33 and made my way to Hammersmith and after 30 mins of aimless wandering found myself at the Lyric.

I must admit i was happy to see other st mary's dudes there! i had it stuck in my head that i'd be the only one so i was really relieved to see others that i recognised and i was pleasantly surprised by Wolfgang the Workshop leader who was really friendly and welcoming! The object of the workshop was to implement dance and physical theatre with disabled people and if i'm honest i did feel a bit intimidated because ive never really worked or interacted with disabled people before and i found it a bit overwhelming to begin with. But watching them work and their lack of fear or nerves really inspired me. They really put all of themselves into what they doing and some of the improvisation they did was really moving, and at the end of the day after a awkward beginning i found it so easy to work with them and i could see myself easily doing it again.

I was really happy i went along to the workshop because i havent really gotten involved in stuff like that before and i really want to experience different aspects of drama and how it can influence communities. I've got to say that Amici is doing admirable work and i would definately want to work with them in the future! Regardless of their immense members waiting list. Oh and a big shout to Zoe who gave me a lift back! THANK YOU : D

Ok now onto possibly the most boring production ive ever seen. The Power of Yes. Ok i understand why its important, i kind of understand why its been raved about but i dont understand why i had to sit through it. I have never fallen asleep in a production before never, and i've seen some real boring stuff, but this, this is just unexplainable. If it wasnt for Megan and Siobhan prodding me or laughing at my near collision with the row in front as i dropped off i would of slept through the whole thing! i nodded off in the first ten minutes! How does that happen. If it wasnt for the genuinely nice day out with my mates i would of been sent into a depressed slump at the pure waffle these actors where waffling at me. Though i must give them there due's the actors did seem like bankers and were believable enough to make you think they knew they're stuff, even if 99% of them were old men.

Sorry for the epic blog but i needed to get something down before i had even more waffle to talk about! As a side note in relation to Drama in the Community. i saw some clay models outside the library! it seemed like a nice idea to somehow implement this creativity for the christmas shows or perhaps do some kinda stories around them. Anyone agree, disagree, think i'm crazy??