100 Things to do before you’re 27

Number 97: Convincingly dress in drag.

100 Things to do before you’re 27.

I’m writing this into a monologue at the moment but I thought it was a really interesting list so I’m going to post 1 every couple of days for as long as the list lasts. They won’t be in order or anything.

Number 15: Find out if the coffee in Costa Rica really is as good as they say.

Amsterdam

I went to Amsterdam. Boom. Nearly wrote ‘boob’ there-talk about Freudian slip!

But yes, I embarked upon a 12 hour coach journey with 50 Drama Soc members and hangers-on and arrived, a little worse for the wear, in northern Holland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city itself is petite but perfectly formed. Just the most kitsch place I’ve ever been to; it feels incredibly Parisian (minus the dutch people and clogs) and you feel as though you’re walking through a dutch Amelie. On the first morning (we arrived at a shiver-inducing 10.30am) and walked the half mile to our hostel-not a bad one as it happened!

After changing, coffee and breakfast we all felt a bit more human and embarked on a walk across the city to the Amsterdam Sex Museum:

Where else?!

It was an…experience to say the least. More pornographic than anything but interesting nonetheless. Following this we took a short walk through the red light district; now, this was an odd experience. As much as I fully accept prostitution as a viable choice for whoever choses it but standing in windows like that, having everyone stare and ogle and barter over price of their services for the night is something which I do have a problem with.

I divided off from my group of people on one of the afternoons, plugged in some Regina Spektor, rolled a cigarette and walked the hour back to the hostel. Idyllic.

 

On the second day myself and the guys I was sharing a room with

hired bikes and took to the streets of Amsterdam. Easily the best way to travel in the city as you essentially own the roads and are exempt from most traffic laws. The bikes took a bit of getting-used-to what with the lack of gears and braking by pedaling backwards; we definitely encountered some problems (mainly with Flo, bless her…)

So we cycled EVERYWHERE, we found the Nemo Science Museum (they have a machine which show you what you’d look like as the opposite sex, old or young).  After feeling about 10 again we headed up the the beautiful roof-terrace to find some lovely and perfectly-behaved friends of ours…

After this we headed back to the hostel for happy hour (B.O.G.O.F-wahey!) then headed out, got dinner and sat in a highly-recommended coffee shop and did what you should always do in Amsterdam…

It was, overall, a thoroughly enjoyable few days. Twas exactly what I needed and I must say that I feel all the better for it!

What a term it’s been.

Wow, so it’s been an insane term. Insane in many MANY ways. I’ve directed a play, produced (almost) a sketch show, completed a writing course and muddled through some sort of social life. Phew.

So the first was directing a production of ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ by Tom Stoppard.

It was a very long process, but easily the play I am most proud of being a part of. We, admittedly had a lot of problems throughout the process and it was an enormous learning curve but it certainly taught me that be a perfectionist and running scenes until the cast are sick of them makes for one hell of a slick show. The sheer amount of lines was one of the initially more terrifying aspects of the play but we were TRULY blessed (ok, I admit it, we cast very well) with a cast in which there were simply no weak actors. Not a single one. And it showed. Even my narcissistic, slightly terrifying drama tutor came to see the show (which, in itself is highly complimentary) and commented that it was the best thing she has seen SUDS do in years; though I couldn’t speak for the previous years I was really fucking chuffed with that.

 

So the second show I’ve been producing is the brand-spanking-new Casual Violence comedy show CHOOSE DEATH .

It’s fantastically dark, insanely twisty and easily better than any musical. Allegedly. It features siamese hit-men, armless serial killers and a very  sad clown dancing to Michael Jackson. It’s an amazing show and, as we’re taking it to Edinburgh, I feel it’s shaping up very well.

 

So those are my two shows for the term. And for tonight. I will be attempting to blog more frequently as, frankly, it’s useful writing practice; something else I’ve taken to doing this term!

 

 

 

Review: Black Swan

Knowing very little about the film before-hand but finding the trailers and, admittedly, a Portman-enthusiast’s encouragement, too intriguing I went with my house-mates to see the latest offering from the Requiem For a Dream Director Darren Aronofsky. From the feel of the opening scenes of the film an instant separation from the big-screen-blockbuster format is evident, and watching it in an Odeon felt somehow to betray the film’s intention. The film’s star, Natalie Portman plays the obsessive fragility-wrought Nina, adding an embodiment to the Chekhovian undertones of ‘destruction for the sake of it’.

Vincent Cassel plays the seductive, over-zealous Director of the dance company with smoldering yet cold precision and, though you know Nina is the cause of the self-destruct, Cassel’s character earns disdain from the audience. Mila Kunis, playing Lily alongside Portman’s Nina creates, for an actress only widely-seen as the voice of Meg from Family Guy and slightly-annoying-girl in ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshal’,  a dark but sexy presence inhabiting Nina’s subconscious, at times in a blush-inducing encounters, at others in breath-catching attacks.

Though being accused of pretension and unnecessary use of gore or even sex, Black Swan is fantastically and horrifically dark. It embodies a Fight-Club-esq combination of alter-egos, psychotic leases on reality and moments of such mundane pain that not a single person could fail to flinch at. It is unexpected, dark and horrible but Aronofsky’s Black Swan exposes what true perfectionism can push one girl to, a must-see for anyone, I have a feeling you’re going to want an opinion about this film.

An amusing little poem for you…

Got read this poem by a friend of mine in a bar last night. It’s is just a nice little poem, and really quite funny in it’s subtle bitchiness all of us have experienced when you have to put on the facade with an ex’s new person…enjoy

ELEANOR BROWN
Bitcherel
You ask what I think of your new acquisition;
and since we are now to be ‘friends’,
I’ll strive to the full to cement my position
with honesty. Dear – it depends.

It depends upon taste, which must not be disputed;
for which of us does understand
why some like their furnishings pallid and muted,
their cookery wholesome, but bland?

There isn’t a law that a face should have features,
it’s just that they generally do;
God couldn’t give colour to all of his creatures,
and only gave wit to a few;

I’m sure she has qualities, much underrated,
that compensate amply for this,
along with a charm that is so understated
it’s easy for people to miss.

And if there are some who choose clothing to flatter
what beauties they think they possess,
when what’s underneath has no shape, does it matter
if there is no shape to the dress?

It’s not that I think she is boring, precisely,
that isn’t the word I would choose;
I know there are men who like girls who talk nicely
and always wear sensible shoes.

It’s not that I think she is vapid and silly;
it’s not that her voice makes me wince;
but – chilli con carne without any chilli
is only a plateful of mince…

 

Review: Boy with Tape on his Face

I was given a ticket to accompany my friend to a performance of ‘The Boy with Tape on his Face’ at the Soho Theatre in London. I’d heard so much about the illustrious Kiwi performer from his sell-out show at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this year so I turned up incredibly intrigued and with high expectations!

So the concept behind this breath-taking-genius of a performance is that the ‘Boy’ (Kiwi-export Sam Wills) performs this hour-long show without saying a word. He uses the music of The Jackson 5, ‘I like to Move-it, Move-it!’ and, in a very touching and memorable scene, ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’. If you hate audience participation then it’s not the show for you but there is no denying that the imagination of this Kiwi jem is the closest to genius in performance that I have ever seen. He uses the slightest eye and eyebrow movements and gestures to complete enchant his audience into complete silence at times, heart-felt ‘awww’s at others and competitive cheering on several occasions. He’s touring the UK at the moment so go to http://www.theboywithtapeonhisface.com/ to see where you can witness this *awesome* show. And you should witness it.