Me Posing in Front of Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Author: Andrew Fox | Major: Theatre

The Theatre in London program was the first study abroad program I ever heard about; unsurprisingly, the person who brought it to my attention was a member of the Theatre department faculty, and the Theatre department’s faculty leader during the program, Shawn Irish. While some credit for my final decision to study abroad lies with Shawn and his glowing (as well as frequent) endorsements, the program also appealed to my personal and professional interests. I’m a self-professed Shakespeare geek, and the trip included viewing a production at the reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe Theater as well as three days in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Bard’s birth and resting place. History fascinates me, so having guaranteed access to historical sites and museums with remnants of one of the largest empires on the planet certainly appealed to me. Most significantly to my chosen career and study path, London’s West End is home to some of the highest quality professional theatre in the world. To have the chance to view as many excellent productions as the program’s itinerary included is nearly once in a lifetime, and that’s saying nothing about the ability to discuss them with a theatre professional and other appreciators of the artform after each performance.

Very little of the program’s overall time was spent in a classroom or classroom-type setting. The week prior to departing the U.S., our group read a handful of plays, submitted analyses of them, and discussed them in class after daily presentations from Shawn Irish and Casey Kayser about our location’s history, culture, and preparations for being abroad. We only met in an academic sense as a group a few times while overseas, and they took the form of round-table discussions of the productions we had seen; talking about their quality, what we liked and disliked, and, in the case of productions of the plays we had read in class, comparing our interpretations and understanding to what was presented onstage. Other than the blog posts we had to turn in for a grade, it felt to me like the only thing expected of us was that we engage with the art, culture, history and simply experience this other portion of the world. And if I had to go back, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Absorbing everything around me came as naturally as breathing, and I am certain the inspiration that came to me as a direct result of that freedom of choice allowed to me will prove invaluable in years to come.

There were plenty of differences between the United Kingdom and the United States, which probably surprises almost no one. London is a vast, bustling city; entirely different from Fayetteville or anywhere else I have lived in terms of energy level, pace of life, and options for things to do and see. Most people we met were pleasant, even friendly, and they seemed to enjoy the normal goings-on of life more than people back home. In all fairness, I interacted with a lot of people in the service or tourism industries, and I certainly didn’t strike up a conversation with every Briton I passed on the street. But between short chats with strangers on the subway, to meeting and hanging out with bartenders that had served me earlier in the evening at a different bar later on in the night, to a theatre company’s front-of-house staff finding me a chair, letting me sit by the dressing rooms to watch the tech crew’s reference monitor, and even giving me a glass of water when I arrived at the theater ragged and out of breath from my efforts to get to the show on time after accidentally going the wrong way on the tube, I found kindness and comradery seeping out of the city’s pores, as it were.

The theatre I experienced in London dwarfs nearly everything I have ever seen here in the U.S. From the hilarious to the harrowing to, in one specific production, the half-baked, an underlying element of heart, of love for theatre and its execution, permeated every performance I sat down to watch. As much as I love where I’m from, the spirit of the United Kingdom’s theatre cannot be beat, and I wish we would take a leaf out of their book.

As far as practical advice for studying abroad, get as much sleep as you can the night before your international departure and return, and make sure you have something engaging to do on the plane. Those two make a world of difference when you’re seated in one place for over twelve straight hours. When it comes to figuring out how to get around and orient yourself in a new location, frustration is natural, but do your best to stay patient. You’ll get the hang of it in time. In regards to London’s public transport, take the extra few seconds to check the signs and make absolutely sure you’re getting on the right train line and going the right direction. Also, give yourself plenty of cushion time in case of unforeseen issues. It’s better to get to where you need to be thirty minutes early and twiddle your thumbs than miss out on something because you got there five minutes late.

For anyone considering studying abroad, regardless of the program: if doing so will not put you into serious debt, do yourself a favor and go for it! If other programs offer half as much knowledge, wisdom, fun, and self-discovery as Theatre in London did to me, it is worth the price of admission. To anyone specifically considering the Theatre in London program, email Shawn Irish for information as soon as you can get your fingers on a computer and keyboard. You will not regret it. I do not exaggerate when I say that this trip helped me realize more about myself and what I want out of life in a month than I ever had in a full semester at home.