Last Week In Dublin!

Hello everyone! Today is the 11th, which means 7 days until I go home. It feels like I've been in Dublin for a long time, and yet the semester went by so fast. I'm trying to get my screenplay revised by Monday, but it's so much more work than I though, especially since I draft was 50 pages short >.< I'm growing tired and restless of writing. The draft is due Monday, along with all the short documents, by 11 am. Once that is done I have to start my Irish Cinema paper.

Last week was the final week of classes. I had one last theater review to hand in for Irish Drama and a group presentation. I was in a group with two of my roommates and we did our presentation on the play Disco Pigs. We also has a guest speaker, the writer of Freefall, a play we saw the week before.

The last day of screenwriting was Wednesday. Colin gave a talk about producers and how to make it in the industry. Our final movie screening was It's A Wonderful Life. Half of us were crying at the end; that movie has the happiest ending ever. Colin took us out for drinks afterward.

Irish Cinema ended on Thursday. We watched the film Adam & Paul bought two drug users spending a day in Dublin trying to get their next fix. Afterwards the director of the film came in the talk to us.

Since then I've been trying to revise my script.

Our group is doing a Secret Santa. Tuesday and Thursday we had to give gifts under 2 euro along with a clue. My Secret Santa got me socks and some cute cellphone charms. Our final exchange is on Monday at our "Tischmas" Party. Even though there's no classes next week, we have the music video screenings and our script readings. Plus paper writing.

Good luck to those with finals!

Procrastination....

Hello everyone. This weekend I was supposed to be a good student and write a review for a play we saw in class and start my paper for Irish Cinema. However, I'm super lazy and tend to procrastinate a lot. I should at least write my review because it is due Tuesday and it's only 500 words. But I find that I do not like writing reviews because I'm not good at writing in a critical sort of way. I'm choosing to write a review on The Plough and The Stars, because that is the only play we've seen so far that I liked. We saw The Silver Tassie this week, also written by the same man who wrote The Plough and The Stars. However, The Silver Tassie was very boring and I didn't have any attachment to the characters. We had cool balcony seats though.

Last week in Irish Drama we looked at Samuel Beckett, who was an avant-garde playwright in the 50s. His plays are very contemporary and experimental. I think I'd be very interested in his work, even though I'm not much of a theater person. Last night we saw a Beckett play called An Act Without Words II. The audience, which was very small, met up at a hotel and we were taken to the site of the play, which was in an alley behind the theater. All we saw was two sleeping bags and a neat pile of clothes. A door opens with a beam of light, and a pole pokes the first sleeping bag, and it is revealed that someone is waking up inside it. The performance was only a half hour, and there were no words. It was just two men waking up, putting on the clothes, taking them off, and curling back into the sleeping bags. The actors were great. I actually like it because I felt like I wasn't watching a performance. The rest of my friends didn't really like it. They complained it was a waste of 15 euro, and that they could watch the same thing for free in the streets of New York. But I guess Beckett really isn't for everyone.

I'm really excited because my fall break is next week! We leave for Paris on Saturday!

The Plough and The Stars

Production still from The Plough and The Stars

Hello everyone! Yesterday I had my Contemporary Irish Theater class. We had to read an Irish play called The Plough and The Stars by Sean O'Casey. It was such a boring read---I didn't really retain what I was reading after awhile. However, we were going to see the play at the Abbey Theater after class. I wasn't too enthusiastic about seeing a play, especially since it's 4 acts.

The play is set I think during the first World War, where Ireland is trying to liberate itself from the British. It follows a group of people who live in a tenement in Dublin. It shows how the war affects them all.

Lemme tell you, I was amazed by this play. All of us had second row, which was really good seats. The play was so much better to watch than to read. And the performances were amazing. Every actor/actress did a brilliant job, no matter how long they were on stage for. And the last 3 acts were completely heartbreaking. I nearly cried. One part of the play was so sad, and some teenagers in the audience started laughing, which took me out a little bit. All of us really enjoyed it regardless.

I have a big weekend to look forward to! Tisch is taking us to the Aran Islands and Galway!

Immigration and Penelope

Hello friends! Yesterday all the screenwriting students had to be at the Tisch Office by 10 am so we could all head to immigration to get our Irish ID cards. When we first came into the country the immigration officer gave us a stamp telling us when we needed to get our ID cards. Some lucky bastards got a stamp that lasted until they had to go home. My stamp said I had one month from the arrival date.

I forgot my passport so me and my classmate Anthony went back to our rooms to get out passports, then we had to go to the immigration office. We had to wait in line for a number, then wait hours just to get called. When I got there they were calling 100. My number was 236. While waiting I went to a nearby park with my class, went back to the office, got lunch, dozed off in the waiting room, and sat around waiting for my number. When I was finally called I had to show my acceptance letter and pay 150 Euro (about $190) for the card. That was annoying.

Then I had to wait another hour just to get my passport and ID. What was even more annoying was that the man giving out the passport and IDs took his sweet time. We all got to class late, so Colin taught us until 7pm.

Today I was tired and not in the mood for class. I didn't do all of the reading for Irish Theatre but I was able to bullshit like I did. Tonight we had to see a play as a requirement for the class. The play was called Penelope and it was a take on the story about Odysseus' wife Penelope and how she was pursued by different men while he was gone. The play is set at the bottom of a drained pool, where four men try to win Penelope's love before her husband comes home. I couldn't get into it because I was so tired, but it seemed alright. I wish I could see it again so I could have appreciate it better.