England: Abigail Brown (Learning on Excursions)

One week into my theater-focused Study Abroad program in London, my classmates and I had one of the most memorable experiences of our entire stay. Tuesday afternoon we met on the Southbank of the Thames to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. As a class of Drama students who had been analyzing Shakespeare’s plays and the Globe for weeks, this was a highly anticipated excursion. The Globe is a circular building resembling a doughnut, the center having no roof. The outer seating is covered, but the floor tickets are standing room only, completely exposed to the elements. However, the building there today is not the original, but a detailed replica. The original was destroyed in 1613 when someone decided it would be a brilliant idea to set off a real cannon onstage, catching the thatched roof on fire and burning everything down. Later, after The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed most of the city, thatched roofs were banned for all but one building. The Globe was allowed to keep it for historical accuracy, only if there were sprinklers installed on top.

Now, 26 years later, my classmates and I were able to enjoy our floor tickets in a near-perfect replica. However, we did not expect an alarm bell to start ringing during the last act, and the sprinklers to malfunction and shower down upon us! While this could have ruined the excursion, it was incredibly cool to have learned about the sprinklers and why they were there, and then get a unique one-of-a-kind experience that reflected everything we had been studying. I actually enjoyed getting rained on for 15-20 minutes simply because it was so cool to be in that moment with that specific group of people who all appreciated the irony as much as I did.

 

Abigail Brown

Hometown: White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Major: Communication Arts: Film, Radio, Television; Theater Certificate

Program: UW Theatre in London

One academic (and somewhat professional) goal I have for this program is to learn as much about the history and practice of theater production in London as I can. I study technical theater for my certificate, specifically set and props design and construction, and I hope to use this study abroad opportunity to understand the history of this art form more fully, and to pick up any tips and tricks that are currently being used in London theater. I would love to work professionally on theater sets and props, and this opportunity will expose me to the practices currently running that industry.

London is a huge city, with an even more vast history, and I am most excited to learn about how theater has played a part in that history. Theater was one of the first forms of visual entertainment, and as such, held a lot of power in expressing information and messages to its viewers. I am sure that the governments of the past had plenty to say about this art form, and I am interested in learning how it has been impacted and changed over time.