Halie

That's correctimundo, my second semester is over, woot woot! This one went by so fast, like hella fast. First term dragged in comparison! I've enjoyed this term so much. It's had it's downs to but overall... spiffing.

I mean it's technically not over yet, I'm not leaving until Saturday, but I have no more lectures, yaaay. Just submitted my final essay of the year (no lectures/assignments in term 3, will explain), I left it a wee bit to the last minute, I'm so glad it's over. Ugh. Also hd a performance today! These last few weeks have been so busy. So many rehearsals. So many. I'm like a lil bit hyped up on caffein but also really really over-tired, it's an odd combination??

I had my exam performance on the 14th, that went well, it was the strangest thing I've ever done theatre-wise. Maybe, i do'nt know the thing I did today was pretty ****in weird, mind. Let me elaborate!

My exam was performed in a museum. Not a museum on stage or anything, a legit museum, a pretty famous one in Exeter I think? They got some pretty valuable stuff. But basically, the practical module tutor I got for this term specialises in site-specific theatre and he does clowning and peep-shows and things, so we were learning all about that. An assignment we had early on in the term to prepare us for the exam was to thing of a thing we're really passionate about (yikes) and then talk about it for 90 seconds in front of the group. We had to try to stay away from scripting it beforehand, keep it a lil improv, and then keep each other's attention while presenting, it was pretty brutal. I did Disney, kinda wish I didn't. I managed to hook all the people in because during my go I was up against three other girls, so I sang the opening note of 'Circle of Life' and they all came flocking over, and I was like, now hot diggity damn I bet when I sang that note each and every one of you thought of the Lion King and they were all hot diggity damn it YES (I'm embellishing). But then I sort of fell apart from that point, didn't know what to do next lol.

For our exam we got split into groups of four and we had to visit this museum and look at this particular starfish exhibit that no one ever looks at 'cause it's pretty closed off and not really all that attractive compared to other things in the museum, and then Tacko our tutor told us that our exam entails us trying to attract people to this exhibit and make it more interesting. My group decided to make our piece about a time travelling ship and all the people on our voyage were travelling with us to 1872, collecting the stuff in the museum, including the starfish. It was actually really, really fun. I was a loopy scientist I've never done anything remotely similar before. There was a lot of improve involved (though we did script a lot of stuff). But even so we never got to practise with an audience beforehand, so on the day the audience was different than what we anticipated. Like, they moved at a really ****ing glacial pace. So there was this one point where I'm introduced, and it's in my bug room, and I tell them about this contraption I'd made back in my day that emulates the sounds that different insects make, but that since travelling to the 21st century I'd picked up an iPad (I pronounced it 'ih'-pad, haw haw haw) and it did a better job and pretended to try to demonstrate, but couldn't connect it to the 'wiffy' (wifi haw haw haw), and then after they leave my bug room, I was supposed to run around the other side of the museum so that our audience wouldn't see me, and then sneak into another exhibit, but they took so long to get out of my bug room so by the team each person had left and moved I didn't have time to move without being seen, so I had to improvise there and then somehow to make it work or else I would've lowered our marks, so I grabbed my trusty ihpad out my coat pocket and started waving it around in the air as if I was trying to connect it to the wiffy still as I was moving into the exhibit, and the audience saw me, I got a lot of laughs! That was actually my favourite part, I'm usually shitty at improv.

So yeah, that was the exam. Today I performed in an MA students devised piece for her final thing which she has to write about for her dissertation etc. It was really good, I enjoyed it so much. We've been rehearsing for months, so it's been so stressful. But definitely worth it. But yeah like I said it was really strange, there wasn't a straight narrative to the piece, it was a physical theatre piece with lots of like interesting imagery and bit parts of stories rather than one over-arching plot. My flatmate came to watch, she said it was weird but good lol. The music we used was hella good.

I met a lot of new people this term. I gotta say, I just really love drama people. They're unlike anyone else you'll ever meet. I've met a lot of people who have looked down on me once I've told them I'm doing a drama degree, and we all get it in drama. We kind of need to stick together a bit lol. And we're all so weird. I love it.

I'm so happy to go home though. I haven't seen my family in 3 months since I haven't gone home at all this term, I miss them so much. Actually that's a lie, I saw my dad for a brief moment because he came down to Exeter to watch my exam at the museum! But I couldn't talk to him for long unfortunately. I miss my little brother so much. I was out about mid way through term with some friends seeing a play, and I got a text from my mum in the middle of it saying that Oliver said he missed me because he and I have intelligent conversations?! Haha! He's 6 years old! I teared up a little. I can't wait to see everyone.

BUUUTTTTT... if I'm being perfectly honest I'm so excited to get home and play FFX HD Remaster, I know that's pretty sad but I've been waiting so long ugghh, and a bunch of people on my newsfeed are talking about it including my brother Alex and there's loads of threads on here and I'm so jealous of all of you ugghhh. I have my ps3 here but I had my copy delivered to my home in Wales so I could play it over Easter (would've been a terrible idea to play it here, I had too much work and rehearsals and absolutely none of it would've gotten done because I'd be too busy playing).

I'm also going to see Wicked in April! It's coming to Cardiff, I'm so excited! Wooooo! I also have an entire month off.

Oh yeah and term 3! I have no lessons or anything, completely free. I'm actually a bit pissed off about it. We were never notified of this when applying for this course and only found out this term. Basically, term 3 is a giant festival here at Exeter where drama students put on shows and act in them and what not. Which sounds fantastic, I know. If you're not a first year! I, along with many other students have been auditioning for lots and lots of shows these last two weeks (on top of everything else we've had to do, no less) and the majority of us first years have no been given any parts (all three years are involved). Most parts have been going to the older years, which yeah, I get it, they're more experienced. But like, what the **** are we supposed to do? We still have to pay for this end of the course as well as accommodation, for nothing? Literally gonna be sat around doing jack shit for six weeks. It really, really, really irritates me.

Had we been informed, I would've made a proposal so I could put on a show, but now it might be too late. Me and a few friends are thinking of trying to get a space so we can put something on ourselves so we won't be wasting our time and money. I really wanna talk to someone about it but I don't know who. It definitely isn't okay and needs to change, and the only fair solution I can think of is if there's like a compulsory first year's show put on each term 3? So like, in term 2 we could elect a committee of students in our year to put together a show, and then only first years can be involved in the show, including acting, directing, tech, everything. I think it's fair because we're put at a disadvantage against the higher years. I wanna conduct a survey, have all the people putting on shows fill it out. They'd have to put the name of their show, and answer how many people are in their overall cast, then list how many of them are 1st years, 2nd years and 3rd years. I think the evidence would be overwhelming.

I just really don't know who to speak to about it. My course can be pretty ****ed up, they keep us so out of the loop. Crafty little shits.

Anyway I'm super tired, caffeine is sort of wearing off. I'll probably just end up watching something on netflix though.

Nighty night to you all, hope all is well.
Haliefax