DAY 4: Shakespeare & History Come to Life!

As everyone gathers for breakfast, we are delighted to find Kim Stroud has arrived ahead of schedule! Together, we enjoy a hearty breakfast, while Diane and others catch Kim up on the activities and events to date. Then we’re off to catch a train to London that takes us to the Canon Street station.

En masse, we walk through the narrow streets as Tim talks about the sights and London history. While traffic whizzes by every which-way and from all directions,  we keep reminding ourselves— traffic moves in the opposite direction so look to the right before crossing!

Our first big stop is the impressive and enormous St. Paul’s Cathedral…which seems to loom over several city blocks. After a short break to either explore inside or grab a quick coffee/snack, the group begins its trek over the funky and unique Millenium Bridge to London’s South Bank. Piped-in music accompanies the heavy foot traffic over the Thames, as The Real Ambassadors stop to take a group picture overlooking the river with the Tower Bridge, now wearing the Olympic Symbol, far in the background.

Reaching the other side, we face the Tate Modern, and next to it, Shakespeare’s Globe. This wonderful recreation of the Bard’s theatre of the early 1600s is where we’ll spend the morning with tours and an acting workshop!

In the Globe lobby we meet Tom, a charismatic young actor in the Globe Theatre company and our teacher-guide for the day. With a wonderful interactive style, he puts a spell on the entire group—young and old alike—with a tour of the globe stage and house, an historic overview of Shakespeare, his times, and his company; and lots of anecdotes about London in the 16^th and early 17^th century. We also watch the technical team at the Globe assemble the stage for the evening’s performance.

A block away, we enter a rehearsal room where the group participates in an hour- long workshop on acting Shakespeare’s text. Tim gets us warm-up and involved, and even teaches us the Globe Company’s approach to acting iambic pentameter!! What an upbeat and masterful session, filled with laughter, participation and energy! At the session’s end, goodbyes are said to Tom accompanied by photographs, and we are all off to different luncheon locations along the Thames on the South Bank.

Later that afternoon, the bus takes us back to the hotel for a rehearsal with Diane, Gene, and Alex; followed by dinner. Linda then leads a much needed movement session for the group…all in final preparation for tomorrow’s Olympic performance.

During discussions that evening for the Thursday performance at the London Eye, a decision is made to add guitar to replace piano, as we’ve learned that keyboards will be unavailable due to the rain that’s predicted much of the week. Flexibility has been key in the preparations and adjustments since arriving in London last Saturday!

With an early curfew for the students, the musicians squeeze in an extra rehearsal before retiring for bed. Diane, Kim, Tony and team watch highlights of the Olympics on the telly, and check the anticipated weather for tomorrow’s historic day. Unfortunately, rain is in the forecast all day Tuesday! Everyone retires for bed hopeful and praying for a small weather miracle.

By Ed Wierzbicki
Trip Journalist