We Interrupt This Review-Glutting...

For a little update on things to come!

Sorry updates have been few and far between lately; my laptop has had some trouble, but it's fixed now and just as reliable as before the issues.

Unfortunately, it is also September, and that means school! To be fair, my school schedule is not as horrible and time-consuming as I'd like to believe, but there are still a lot of commitments I have to make if I want my marks to be stellar. And I do, I really do.

I will finish this year's round of Stratford reviews. I've yet to review:

• The Matchmaker
• You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown
• Cymbeline
• A Word or Two (maybe??)

I also mean to write about my experiences fencing, a sport I've just picked up this week and intend to take through to the end of the year. Lots of cool random stuff to tell you guys already.

My other big plan for this year is the vlog I've been getting ready these past couple of months. I will be reviewing foodie media. There will be food porn. The first thing I will review is Julie and Julia, and I will make some delicious boeuf bourgignon.

Add to that whatever shows I'm guaranteed to get involved in, and I think we have a pretty cool school year ahead of us!

Ur Doing It Right.

Here is a photoquote for my film class in university. Schoolwork is lame, I know.

Isn't that just darling?

Stuff That Is Not The Academy Awards

They are not going to get any better, no matter how much I gripe.

I've just barely survived mid-semester essays, and they've given me some perspective as to what I should be talking about.

You see, since I've been released from the cast of my university's production of Penelope Waits, I've had a lot of spare time for intellectual pursuits completely divorced from school work. I've been reading with great voracity, mainly plays as has been my wont for years now, but also novels and the like.

I've also hijacked my friend's course in Greek and Roman drama, which is a great fit for me [alas, I have not the prerequisites. In two years, maybe]. This course's culminating assignment is a full-fledged production of a Classical play. They've chosen to do Aeschylus's Orestes, which is literally my favourite Greek play of all time. So, awesomeness.

I've also got a new professor in my own drama course, who is beyond awesome. The stuff I've learned in this course, even pre-awesome prof, is actually really useful and interesting, being more theory-based than practical.

On Goodreads And Other News

You can find me and friend me here. I believe that one of the finest things about books is the discussion that comes from reading them together- I would love to know if readers of my blog share common interests in literature, though judging from the attention my Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare posts get, this is quite probable.

I also love recommendations and whatnot. The prospect of new books to try out is thrilling.

I've also finally started on my own book, which you'll be seeing more information about as time goes on. It's going to be a challenge to write and an even greater challenge to get out into the public, but I've been priming for the challenge for years now, and I think I'm ready.

Rehearsals for The Penelopiad, now called Penelope Waits, are under way. Here is the information page for the production. You can see rehearsal photos, but you can't see me in them, so far.

Austennnnn!

That exclamation mark is meant to denote general dissatisfaction and rage. Observe, a master:

See title for how you should be hearing this clip.

Yeah, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice. Pity me, it's mandatory.

I knew Mr Darcy was an asshole; I was not expecting just how much of an asshole he was going to be. Elizabeth Bennet is supposed to be strong-willed and clever. I find her sort of idiotic in general. The only character I really like is Mr Bennet, who makes me smile wide every time he opens his mouth to spout good-natured abuse about his daughters.

And though one of my favourite bloggers and best friends (who read the entire Austen canon and blogged about it; follow this link) is pretty much mad for it, I simply cannot believe that it gets any better, or that it deserves the unstoppable hype it's received for almost 150 years.

In summation, last year the syllabus for the course I'm taking had Frankenstein rather than P&P. I know which one I would rather be reading.

I'm sorry for being so infantile. Maybe I'll write about Shakespeare soon. Seems unlikely, given the vast writer's block I have currently.

The Penelopiad!

My university is doing The Penelopiad for its winter major, and I, E, have been cast in it. It's wonderful; right after A Masque of Mr Punch, I got to do props for As You Like It, and as soon as that show has pretty much wrapped up, I've got this on my plate. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about it, in the spirit of actress Kate Hennig's glorious production-themed blog.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Canadian theatre, The Penelopiad is a play by Margaret Atwood, adapted from her novella of the same name. It follows Penelope, the wife of Ancient Greek hero Odysseus, who left her alone in his kingdom of Ithaca for twenty years while he fought the Trojan War and then took the scenic route coming home (those men, they just can't ask for directions, can they?)

It sounds like a bit of a snoozer, to be sure, but I can assure you it's a pretty interesting read and is bound to be exciting on stage.

Production Analysis Of Rent

Thought my non-existent readers might want to see some of what we do at the drama program of my university. This here is a production analysis of Rent, with emphasis on costume and particular focus on the coat that Angel gives Collins.

New Involvement!

So university is treating me well, non-existent readers. I very much enjoy the new freedoms and challenges that I have, and I'm looking forward to the next few years. Something particularly wonderful about my university is that there are a LOT of drama companies and so countless opportunities to get involved. I have managed to get myself entangled in two projects.

One of them is a staged reading of a play that was put on specifically so first-years could have involvement in the drama community. It is called The Masque of Mr Punch, a little-known one-acter by Canadian playwright Robertson Davies. It's a satire of the theatre community in Toronto as well as a pastiche of the classic Punch and Judy puppet shows, which are rooted in the commedia dell'arte tradition. I play Harlequin, my favourite archetype of all time. It's going to be a one-night-only performance, and rehearsals are super-interesting.

The other project I'm involved with is a production of As You Like It. I'm doing props, which is a totally new experience for me. I hope to be useful and to have a splendid time.

Another great thing that's happening is that my drama course is largely theoretical. I love the amount of analysis I get to do. Right now I'm working on a production analysis of Jonathan Larson's RENT, and my drama lab is studying Bone Cage by Catherine Banks. I really feel involved and informed in this vibrant community.

Next week I will be watching a production of I, Claudia, which I don't know that much about save for the fact that puppets figure greatly. Hopefully I'll bring back a review of that, as well as the rest of the shows I saw at Stratford! I'll hopefully also have a review of The Phantom of the Opera, which I saw via cinema broadcast last week.

Busy The Next Few Days

I will soon be in the magical land of Massachusetts, which is apparently the equivalent of Mecca for fans of the New England Patriots. I feel too old to really be a part of the phantasmagoric football tour, but I'm accompanying the rest of my family, with the promise that there shall be some excellent seafood. Hurray.

I started watching an anime called Juuni Kokki (the Twelve Kingdoms). It came highly recommended by one of my friends, and I have to say I got sucked into it too. More on that when I'm feeling more review-y.

The Twelve Kingdoms

Just found out the cinema broadcast for the Metropolitan Opera. As usual, I'm delighted to see a mix of old favourites, antique curios, and some newer operas. They are as follows:

Anna Bolena- Donizetti
Don Giovanni- Mozart
Siegfried- Wagner
Satyagraha- Glass
Rodelinda- Handel
Faust- Gounod
The Enchanted Island- Various
Ernani- Verdi
Manon- Massenet
La Traviata- Verdi

Götterdämmerung- Wagner

This is the first season the Met has broadcast where I can honestly say that I want to see each and every one of the offerings. I'm especially excited for Jonas Kaufmann as Faust, Anna Netrebko as Anne Boleyn, and the last two parts of the Ring Cycle with Deborah Voigt.

But somehow, I'm even more excited for something that's happening here. My university, home to the only student opera company in North America, is putting on The Light In The Piazza. I'm a little bit curious as to what criteria it meets to be classified as an opera, but otherwise I've been listening to the Broadway cast album obsessively and figuring out what I want to do for my audition.