Author: Isaac Hubberd | Major: Theatre | Semester: Summer 2025

Afternoon Tea at the Roman Baths

London is often called the theatre capital of the world, and after visiting this summer for a study abroad program I can definitely see why. As it was a theatre centered program we saw many shows during our time there ranging from the star studded west end to the more out of the way fringe theatres. During our four week stay there I saw about fifteen shows, and I feel like each one contributed in a way, some big and some small, to my future as a theatre maker. My interest in this particular program came primarily from my desire to gain a greater understanding of theatre and a wider base of reference to use in my own work later on. I have always loved making things and so far I have yet to find a better outlet for this than theatre. By building up my reference base I feel like I now have a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t on stage, and a good jumping off point of how I would want to implement some of my own ideas. The experience that had the biggest impact on me overall during this study abroad was our viewing and analysis of the stage adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro. The titular character, Totoro, is a very large furry creature in the movie, and I was very curious to see how he would be adapted to the stage. I was astounded at the amount of life that was able to be conveyed in the puppet used while still maintaining its scale. They also went an interesting direction with how the puppet was controlled, embracing the use of puppeteers as characters rather than hiding them. While it may seem like that would break the illusion of Totoro being a living, independent creature, the quality of the puppeteering and puppet itself made it so that while we could see who was controlling it, it still felt shockingly real. This show made me realise that moving forward I want to focus on some of the more mechanical aspects of theatre, and has given me a lot of inspiration to how I may want to incorporate that into costuming, which is my primary area of focus currently.

Another play that especially stood out to me was the musical adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was one that I was very sceptical about going in. The short story the musical is based off of did not impress me very much on my initial reading of it, and did not seem to lend itself especially well to a musical format. I was fortunately very mistaken, and the show blew me away. We saw many critically acclaimed and well known musicals, but I don’t think any of them reached the heights of Benjamin Button. The biggest thing that I take away from the production is that a relatively simple set and costumes can still be extremely effective, and has given me ideas of how I could make my own work more impactful on a relatively low budget.

The most memorable excursion I took outside of class time was when I went to the Hunterian Museum. Named after the surgeon John Hunter who provided most of the collection, it displays preserved human and animal specimens side by side. While it was at times difficult to stomach, the specimens on display showed a very interesting contrast between human andanimal anatomy, and gave me a greater appreciation of how the bodies’ different systems interconnect. It was definitely the most challenging thing I saw while abroad, but also one of the most interesting and impactful.

For anyone interested in studying abroad, especially in English speaking countries, I have a few words of advice. One of the biggest is that you can’t assume cultural similarities just because you speak the same language. Some things are bound to be the same but stuff that never even crossed your mind may be completely different. It is also important to recognize that while you can inform yourself as much as possible, there is no way to fully understand a country’s culture before going. You are bound at some point to do something that could be viewed as impolite or improper, and while it’s important to try and avoid this you also have to accept that it will likely happen and to not beat yourself up too much over it. Studying abroad is an opportunity that I believe anyone who is able to jump at. No matter where you go or what you study, it is sure to make a strong impact on your life.