We're nearing the end of October and we're all busy preparing for Pericles this coming October 28 and 29. While we've still kept up with our classes and rehearsals, we were also able to see a lot of shows the past few days.
1. A View From The Bridge (October 20) Juilliard Drama got us tickets to see Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge" at the Lyceum Theatre
2. Juilliard Drama Showings Second Years: Balm in Gilead by Lanford Wilson Third Years: Snore by Max Posner and Thinner Than Water by Melissa Ross Fourth Year: Seven Guitars by August Wilson
It is such a treat being able to witness the work of actors who have been in the program longer than I have. It gives me something to aspire to and work towards.
3. Herald Square
I went to Herald Square on 34th Street this Sunday (October 25) because I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. Turns out Herald Square is this huge shopping district in New York City and home to one of the largest department stores in the world, Macy's. I went around to scout for warm clothes and scan for prices before buying anything for the winter season. Ended up buying 2 pairs of HeatTech socks from Uniqlo. After hours of walking, I suddenly felt a kind of disconnectedness. I longed to go back to Juilliard. I longed to go back to the place that housed a community which was life-giving. It's interesting to me that I decided to go out and explore to "get out of the School" for a change and just after a few hours away I wanted to hurry back to the School. There is something about being surrounded by clothes and shops and all these people trying to buy stuff that made me feel so alone. Ta-Nehisi Coates says it more articulately in "Between the World and Me":
"for the first time I was an alien, I was a sailor - landless and disconnected. And I was sorry that I had never felt this particular loneliness before"
When I got back to the Residence Hall I took a 30-minute nap and got dinner at the Juilliard Cafeteria. I was eventually joined by two Group 48-ers which made me feel a lot better again. I do not have answers for loneliness, but I have discovered that crowded malls or shopping centres have a way of sucking out my life-force and that I should be more conscientious about actively seeking out what magnifies my spirit vs what sucks it out of me.