I learned a couple of things while exploring London today, and they are as follows:
1. Museums here are HUGE and very easy to get lost in.
2. When you go to a play here, you can purchase the script of said play. (So cool!)
3. Standing ovations are a no-no when it comes to theatre etiquette here.
4. Sharing meals with friends is cost efficient and tasty!
5. I don’t really care for macchiatos.
London has been absolutely wonderful so far! Today, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, a little coffee shop called Muriel’s, and the Royal Court Theatre for the production of “A Kind of People.”
At the Victoria and Albert Museum, we checked out the Theatre and Performance exhibit. It was really cool because we were able to look at costumes and set designs that have been done in past productions here in London. The museum was so big and there were so many different things to see. Noah and Adam even got lost in the Ceramics exhibit!
After the museum, Morgan and I went to a little cafe called Muriel’s and got some coffee. That was where I tried my first (and probably last) macchiato. Unimpressed.
Later that night, we went to the Royal Court Theatre and saw “A Kind of People,” which was written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. The play deals with the complexities of racism and classism, and evaluates how these complexities can affect the relationships that people have with one another.
I really valued seeing this play. It forced me to wrestle with the role that I play within a society that is systemically racist.
While the play doesn’t offer a solution to racism, it does assert that we must acknowledge our shortcomings and admit when we are being influenced by bias and prejudice. A big thing that we talked about in our class discussion after the play was the fact that we cannot act like everything is perfect in our society. Just because we live in an age that is more politically progressive, does not mean that racism ceases to exist.
I can’t wait to see more plays and have more classroom discussions like this. And I can’t wait to try more macchiatos (maybe I’ll like the second one better)!