Monday, September 15, 2014

Sir, she came in great with child, and longing--saving your honor's reverence--for stewed prunes.

Finally received thesis feedback from my advisor, and it is GREAT.  Direct quotes:

"You're on to a winner."
"I'm not certain that I've adequately outlined...how impressed I am by the range of research and clarity of writing....Great work."

Now I just have to do some massive restructuring, write a little new material, and send off a second draft in the middle of October.  For the moment, though, I'm free to turn part of my attentions to preparing my monologue for the audition for the third year of my program, which takes place on October 3rd.  Bonus points to you if you can identify the character and/or play from that line!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Second Year Success!

Tomorrow begins the second week of my second year.  And while I'm even busier than I expected to be, I'm already kicking ass.

Despite a hiccup in which only six of the eighteen new students decided to volunteer for scenes for the directing class, we're off to a great start.  I expect thesis feedback from my adviser this week (which will be both soul-crushing and motivating), and I've managed to keep on top of my insane reading load and also manage to be just a bit ahead of the game.  Seriously, I have two classes.  How do I have so much reading?  Oh, right, because I'm also auditing a reading-heavy class.  That's how.

My motto for this semester is "always be working".  If I have a spare 30 minutes, spend it in a book, not on the internet.  If I have a spare 15 minutes, spend it answering emails, not Instagramming my surroundings.  If I have a spare 5 minutes...well, in that case, I'm usually eating.  Once rehearsals start on the 20th, I will have no spare time at all, so I'm trying to get as ahead as possible right now.

My thesis-research trip to Richmond was exactly as unhelpful as I expected it to be, though I did get to see some really cool documents and playbooks, and I came away with a couple of things I can hold up as general time period examples, though they're either not Shakespeare or not Civil War.  Worth a trip, but I'm glad I was able to cancel the second day I'd scheduled to be there.

So.  Thesis roundtable is on the 15th, M4M rehearsals start on the 20th, Clyomon preproduction starts on the 20th, I go to Asheville on the 26th to see a pal in a production of Midsummer, and MFA auditions are on the 3rd.  Let's get after it, second year!