What Defines A Play?

That is not a rhetorical question, because I want to know the answer. 

As you know, I am studying in London this quarter, and one of the classes I'm taking is a English Drama class. We get to see ten plays while we are here, and we saw out first one tonight. 

The play we saw was "If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me" at the Young Vic theater. 

First off, I am utterly confused as to how this could be considered a play. There was no dialogue! None! Zip! Zilch! Zero! The "play" was made up entirely of 80's rock songs. 

Here is the trailer if you want to know what I mean

Now that was cool, if only I was a fan of 80's rock and knew what all of the songs were and what they meant. Because without that context I was completely lost. 

Since I am one of those people who believes that if a story is told in song more than 50% of the time, it is a musical, then I believe that this "play" should have been considered a musical. I was completely thrown at how there was no obvious plot to the story. 

Now this performance was not completely terrible, there were a couple of PHENOMENAL dancers that I was in awe over the entire run. So in awe that I just stopped paying attention to the main character singing her heart out and just watched this guy dance. And I'm not even mad that I did that because he was amazing. 

This was my first crack at London theater, and the only thing I can say is that it really can't get worse. I'm looking forward to next week's play. Apparently there are a few well known actors in it, including a certain well loved Orange Is The New Black actress. Stay tuned :)

-Shawnee Smith

*I do not own any of the photos or videos on this post.

I Think I Saw All of London

How long do you think it takes to see all of the important and notorious parts of London? My answer is one day and 10 miles. 

On Friday, March 25, 2016 one of the teachers from my Study Abroad program took us on a walking tour of London. We started at our classroom and made our way past all of the 'tourist' spots in London. 

This tour began at 10 AM and ended at 5:30 PM while walking ten miles around London. It may seem impossible, but you can see most of the city in one day. This post is living proof of that. 

Some of the bigger sights that we passed by, and received very long lectures about, were...

Piccadilly Circus, The National Gallery

 

This cool Arch thing whose name I forgot, the Prime Minister's House

 

Big Ben and his Tower, the only surviving part of a church that burned down, a sick police light,

  

Westminister Abbey,

 

The London Eye and the River Themes, the old London City Wall

 

The Tower of London, 

 

the Tower Bridge, 

 

and this cool little plaque. 

It was a long walk, but I think I'm really happy that I got most of the tourist-y sights out of the way on one of my first days here. 

Now I can really dig below the surface of the city and find some hidden gems instead of wandering around trying to find what I can see in thousands of tourist photos every day. 

I'm excited to spend the next ten week living and learning here in London. 

There are definitely more adventures to come and I couldn't be more excited. 

For now, I think I'm just going to take a hot bath because walking ten miles in a day is painful and tiring. 

-Shawnee Smith 

*I actually do own all of the photos on this post because I took them myself ;)

How Do I Get Ready For a Big Trip?

In case I never said, or you didn't read the post where I did say, I am going to be studying abroad in London for my Spring Quarter. 

I am extremely excited to go abroad for my very first time and get to spend ten weeks in a city I have always wanted to see. 

However, this trip is big. I mean big. I'm going to be gone ten weeks and I can only take one suitcase. I mean, how does one even do that? Considering I leave on Monday, I need to figure it out. 

First thing I did was make a packing list full of everything that I thought I would need going abroad. Then I deleted everything that I could easily buy once I get there, such as bath products and a hairdryer. (Eliminating these easy to find items will make my bag lighter). 

*Also If you are going abroad anytime soon remember that they have different outlets so you'll need a converter, and they use a different voltage of power. Make sure everything electronic that you take over can handle the voltage the outlets give off (220 to the 110 in America). You don't want anything blowing up.

Then you need to track down everything that you MUST take, such as that pesky converter (you'll probably want to call people right when you land to let them know you're safe). 

I am starting to freak out. What if I don't pack enough clothes, what if I pack too much and have to pay the overweight fee? 

What will I do if I sit next to someone who falls asleep on me? 

Where will I put all of my books that I plan on taking?????

So many things can go wrong with this trip and I am freaking out just thinking about it. I have to trust that I have done my research and planned out what I need to pack enough that everything will go smoothly. 

I'll probably post once more before I get to London, I even have the topic started. I will update you all on my travel adventures once I get over there and get settled. 

-Shawnee Smith

I'm Done With Finals!

It is time to celebrate because if you read the title of this post then you will know that I have finished finals week for my winter quarter! 

My gosh, I am so glad to be done with this quarter. While I have had a whole lot of fun with my friends, my classes have been depressing. I am so ready to close this chapter and enter the next. 

Tomorrow I move out of my dorm for good (HELL YES) and I fly to England next week for my quarter abroad. 

I am so excited to have the opportunity to live and study in a foreign country. I have never traveled outside of the United States before (Vancouver BC doesn't count when you live three hours from the border), so this is a brand new experience for me. 

I plan on using this blog to document where I go and what I do while I'm abroad. Maybe if anyone plays to live in England for ten weeks they will run across my blog and get some recommendations on where to go and what to do. 

If not, people can just live vicariously through me. 

That is what's up next for me in my life. Gladly, I'll have a ten hour flight next week where I can do some reading and maybe some more blogging.

That's all for now. Cheers. :)

-Shawnee Smith

Why I Love "The 100" So Much

Almost exactly two years ago, a TV show based on a Young Adult novel by Kass Morgan, premiered on the network The CW. 

Until a few days ago, I thought I was practically alone in my love for this TV show. For the past two years it was almost axed every season by the network despite how completely awesome and tremendously loved it is. However, I have learned that slowly people are starting to get into this show. Many of my friends in my dorm this year have begun to binge watch the series on Netflix and they are now completely obsessed.

For those of you who don't know what The 100 is (no judgement here), the story is as follows: There was a nuclear war on Earth and several countries were able to send space stations into orbit before the world ended. 97 years later, the 12 space stations have formed one large station named the Ark. However, life support on the Ark is failing and in order to discover if the Earth in habitable yet, the leaders send 100 juvenile prisoners to the ground. Once they land, The 100 find that the Earth is not what it seems.

Reviews of the first few episodes were mixed. Some loved the mix of Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica, others thought the plot line was too teenager-y. However, the network saw promise in going darker, and the creative team agreed. The 100 now has a 8/10 rating on IMDB and 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

What came next was a gritty three seasons focusing around the question of how far is too far? How far is it deemed acceptable to go for an outcome that benefits you and your people? The main characters of The 100, mainly Clarke and Bellamy, are constantly questioned on whether it should be okay for them to decimate a population of people in order to save their own. 

These complex moral questions about what is right and wrong is only the beginning. 

The 100 is constantly introducing complex characters. And I don't mean complex by they are trying to find themselves and decide who they are going to date next. I mean complex by characters constantly attempting to decide what is acceptable to do while living in such harsh conditions. Who should they become: killers or merciful humans? Characters are constantly changing who they are by the pressures introduced into their story lines, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. 

 

There are certain norms that are present though the TV world that not many writers or networks want to attempt to challenge. The 100 breaks these norms all of the time. There are women in positions typically only given to men (leader of the armed guard, leader of their people)... 

 

...there is a woman who is the best mechanic on the Ark...

...there are characters who become disable yet do not let their injury stop them... 

...there are gay characters who are not just about their sexuality (and the main character, Clarke, is bisexual)... 

...and race is never mentioned as an issue either on the Ark or on the ground. 

The people in the world of The 100 seem to only care about where you were born, either in the sky or on the ground. 

The idea of the Grounders present an interesting dynamic within the show. After they are on the ground for only a few short hours, The 100 learn that they are not alone. There are people that have been living on the ground since the bombs dropped 97 years before. 

At first the Grounders are at war with The 100. However, through some negotiating they slowly become allies. That does not stop a few of the people from the Ark believing that all Grounders are the enemy. 

You see, the executive producer decided to craft the third season as a commentary of America's fear during times of war and strength of other countries. He created an event at the beginning of the their season that was supposed to be the 9/11 of that world. A complete destruction of a safe haven for the people of the Ark. Though the destruction was the work of one small section of Grounders, many of the people of the Ark believed that all Grounders were to blame. 

Sound familiar? 

One of my biggest complaints about TV Shows with as much violence as The 100 is that the writers have a hard time letting go of their characters. The 100 does not have that problems. Countless important characters have died in the middle of seasons just because it would make a good story. Several of my favorite characters are now resting six feet below. That should not stop you from watching though, because in my opinion, 90% of characters are my favorite. I love most of them. 

This whole post has been a long way of me saying that The 100 is not just a teenage show of unrequited love and pretty people running around a forest making stupid decisions. The 100 is a show that attempts to question the morals of humanity and break down barriers. 

I highly suggest that you watch The 100. The first two seasons are on Netflix and the third season is ongoing. 

-Shawnee Smith

*I do not own any of the photos on this post.