Being a honorary member of Alpha Psi Omega (APO), the theatre fraternity, is like being knighted with a prop sword – you get all the valour, camaraderie, and recognition, minus the heavy armour or weird initiation ceremonies. It’s not just about memorising lines or hitting your mark; it’s about wearing the invisible crown of theatrical brilliance, where every rehearsal feels like a royal decree to entertain. Whether you’re a spotlight-stealing lead or the unsung hero backstage, joining APO means you’re officially part of an elite squad of thespians who really know the bond you share with fellow creatives, the humans who laugh with you in the wings and cheer for you from the front row. In APO, the stage isn’t just a place to act – it’s where lifelong friendships are forged in the glow of shared stories, late-night rehearsals, and the knowledge that, together, you’re part of something truly special.
And then there’s Merlin. Merlin, the tree for theatre students at Valparaiso University, holds a special significance beyond its status as a campus landmark. The Merlin Tree serves as a central meeting point for theatre students, where they can gather before rehearsals, share ideas, and bond over their love for the arts; including reading Shakespeare under the stars! We gathered under there to share a moment with all the theatre lovers and learned the devastating news that the tree is being taken down. But no, in an act of defiance the students are rallying together to save the tree and the legacy it leaves behind. With a couple of charged months ahead as we enter October and then, knotty November, that simple act of courage, defiance and strength, standing in the truth of what you believe in will be with remain with me.
I had the pleasure of working with the cast and crew of Valparaiso’s production of Let the Right One In (click the link to buy tickets!). The perfect play for spooky season with an endlessly energetic cast. I’m gutted to miss the show, so please check it out for me if you’re in the area! We ran around on the beautiful stage for a couple of hours practicing behaviour and learning to balance space as performers with our bodies. The workshop ran over an hour and if I could I would have stayed another two!
I look back on a week of ascension as we arrived at Valpo as mere mortals and head back into downtown Chicago as APO to absorb everything that robust and endlessly electrifying city has to offer. Including to name but a few: deep dish pizza, Millennium Park, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Riverwalk, the architectural boat tour, the very Fine Arts Building, Wrigley Field, Chicago Cultural Center, Buddy Guys, Chinatown, American Blues Theatre…
I could keep going but we would be here – Oh THE BEAN, how could I forget THE BEAN! (Officially called Cloud Gate) – all day. I digress. I’ve never wanted to relentlessly “complete” a city in such a voracious way. I fear I dream of the impossible and will inevitably be back!
A pitch pipe, a tattoo sleeve, a comical number of kazoos and a pair of fishnet stockings make up just some of the wonderful, and certainly weird parts and props that sit in our cast suitcase.
Ah, the humble suitcase: the unsung hero of travel!
It’s not just a bag; it’s a portable miracle.
Imagine a world without suitcases – your socks would mingle awkwardly with your shampoo, there would be a great battle for your belongings at the other end, and you’d arrive at your final destination looking like a bootless ill-natured haggard. A suitcase holds your life in its clutches.
However, this is not just any case, this is THE SHOW CASE.
THE SHOW CASE holds all the discoveries, angst, epiphanies and compromises of rehearsal. It holds the greatness, the confusion, the ambition and all the joy in Twelfth Night. In non-thespian terms, this equates to a 50lb travel allowance (or approximately 22kg for our international friends), and seemed an insurmountable task to achieve at the start of our rehearsal process: squeezing a show into a suitcase. Five actors after five weeks of rehearsal morphed into directors, set designers, costume designers, musical directors, and great eaters of curry goat – superbly stewed by the one and only Francis – that we leave behind at the Karibu Centre in Brixton, our rehearsal hub. So, touching down at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after nearly nine hours in the sky and a further three-hour crawl through an overzealous customs, we nervously anticipate being reunited with our suitcases and most importantly THE SHOW CASE.
Imagine the sweet sigh of relief to see the weathered case, plastered to high heaven with stickers from previous destinations, float around effortlessly. A manic baggage claim where suitcases had been piling up for the past few hours. We bundle them and ourselves into a taxi, the AC blowing away any warmth provided by the Chicago air, but the jubilation of Mexican Independence Day and the relief of knowing all our company and cases are here keep us going as we enter Notre Dame, AFTLS headquarters – it’s starting to feel real now.
We meet with the awesome and astute Cate (Happy Birthday!) and get settled into our week at ND. Business commences, as we undertake lots of admin on the beautiful grounds. I could run out of lovely adjectives to describe the team, but more about ND in Week 7!
Westville vs. Wellesley
Westville Correctional Facility is a state prison located in Westville, Indiana. It’s one of the larger correctional facilities in the state and is operated by the Indiana Department of Corrections. The prison houses a mix of security levels, including medium and maximum security, which means it accommodates inmates serving a range of sentences, from shorter terms to life sentences. It is home to some of the fiercest Shakespeare lovers in the land.
Wellesley College is a prestigious private liberal arts college for women located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It’s one of the Seven Sisters, a group of historically women’s colleges in the northeastern United States. Founded in 1870, Wellesley is known for its rigorous academic programs, small class sizes, and its beautiful campus, which features a mix of Gothic and modern architecture. It is also home to some of the fiercest Shakespeare lovers in the land. A Twelfth Night battle between Westville Correctional Facility and Wellesley College would be a delightful mix of Shakespearean wit, mistaken identities, and epic mischief.
Indulge me here.
Wellesley College would approach the play with precision and flair. Their Viola would be flawless, navigating between her male disguise as Cesario and her true self with grace and subtlety. They’d bring a beautiful, nuanced take on the humor and gender-bending of Twelfth Night, nailing the complex dialogue and social commentary. Their Sir Toby Belch would be played with just the right balance of drunken absurdity and clever jabs, while their Malvolio would offer a perfect study in stuffy pride, complete with cross-gartered yellow stockings that dazzle and repulse in equal measure.
On the Westville side, the interpretations would be raw and full of unexpected energy. Their Viola might bring a fierce, survivalist twist, delivering lines with the gravitas of someone who’s experienced a bit of life. Sir Toby would be a rough-and-tumble trickster, pulling pranks with a mischievous grin that suggests he’s up to more than just Shakespearean hijinks. And Malvolio? He would take his tragic humiliation to Shakespearean heights, maybe turning the cross-garter scene into an unforgettable, over-the-top performance that mixes humour with pathos, leaving the audience laughing and cringing at the same time.
Wellesley’s crew plotting with perfect timing, slipping in literary allusions as they conspire to deceive Malvolio, while Westville brings streetwise cunning to the art of trickery, upping the ante with a few unexpected twists of their own. The Westville-ians might even throw in a few modern- day references, as a basketball swish from Maria delivering the letter of deception to Malvolio proved popular in our AFTLS preview.
In the grand finale, the mistaken identities would create utter chaos, but the Westville actors would handle it with a winking, self-aware charm, while Wellesley keeps things perfectly buttoned-up until the big reveal, where everything falls apart hilariously.
By the end of the Twelfth Night battle, it’s clear both sides brought their A-game. The mix of academic finesse from Wellesley and Westville makes it a perfect Shakespearean showdown, full of laughter, mischief, and enough “what you will” to make the Bard himself proud.
It truly was an honour to play to Westville, whose students have been studying Twelfth Night with AFTLS’ AD, the Scintillating Scott Jackson. Scott has been teaching Shakespeare at the facility for many years and they clearly admire him and the work. Equally it was absolutely terrifying, simply because they know that text like the back of their hand, so we needed to bring our A-game and deliver a world-class performance to a world-class audience. Thank you so much guys for attending the performance and being so generous with your feedback, praise, and inquisitiveness.
And last but not least, thank you Wellesley, thank you Marta and Sarah V. for your warmth and hospitality. Thank you to the brilliant women and members of the Shakespeare Society (please invite us back) and special shout out to Sid & Shirley for stage management and tech. Wellesley’s unfiltered passion for Shakespeare, theatre, and this weird and wonderful thing we do has lit the fire for the rest of the tour. You all are legends!
For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Psalm 69:33
And so just like that, we entered our final week of the tour. Looking back it felt like it had been a long tour, but also a short tour. When I think back to all the places we have been: Indiana, New York State, Vermont, Texas, California and Alabama, it feels like we have been away for a long time. But then again, it some ways it feels like yesterday that we were doing our read-through in Covent Garden, London.
Florence is a pretty, affluent town in northern Alabama. Its high street leads up to the university which is a short walk from our hotel. If you turn out of our hotel and walk down the hill, you find yourself at the Tennessee River. It’s big and beautiful, people fish on the river bank and you feel like Huckleberry Finn might pass by on a raft at any given moment.
We had three shows to do here, one at the university, one for high schoolers and one at Limestone Correctional Facility: a prison about an hour and half outside of Florence. Most of us had never performed in a prison before, including me. Going into the building is an austere experience, but once you are inside (literally and figuratively) you sort of forget you are in a prison. We were shown into a room, where we would perform, which was reminiscent of a church hall. The floor had been mopped and cleaned so well we could have had our lunch on it. We set up and the audience entered.
What struck us most was the focus this audience had on the play. Every single man was paying a deep attention to the play. They had been studying A Midsummer Night’s Dream through a program run by the University of North Alabama. They were well equipped with a ‘No Fear Shakespeare’ script in hand (this edition offers a modern English version of the story alongside the original), pencils and a list of characters in the play. They were to listen, to learn and to get out of prison life for a couple of hours.
After the show we ran a Q and A, spoke to the prisoners, and signed their copies of the play, which were kept carefully and in pristine condition. We were thanked a lot and were reminded how important it was to them that we had come. It was a profound experience. I have thought about it a lot since. And will think about it a lot, probably throughout my life. Of course, I’m sure some men in that prison have done very bad things and some might even show little to no remorse; but the people we met seemed so normal. Perhaps, a fit of anger, a tragedy, a tough, tough life, forces someone to do something rash, they get caught and that’s it: prison. And then once you’ve been to prison, done your time and get released, is it easy to establish a normal life? I don’t know, but the experience made me think. The walls we put up are built on sand.
As we flew into California, the plane did that scary tipping motion as it turned to have a straight path to the runway. Whilst, as a nervous flyer, I find this frankly terrifying, it did offer an excellent view of L.A. The view was rows and rows of palm trees and pools. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many palm trees and pools in my life.
The following day I was lucky as I had a 6pm class allowing me most of the day to explore L.A. I opted for a trip to the Getty Museum. The Getty is perched on a hill overlooking L.A. You can get a small tram or walk up from the car park to the museum itself. I opted for the tram. It’s more scenic and I was put off by disconcerting signs on the walking route warning of cayotes, mountain lions and rattle snakes. Yeah, the tram is good for me.
The Getty has a reasonable collection of art, but maybe not as impressive compared to the Art Institute in Chicago or the Met. But in terms of the building and setting, the Getty is a work of art in and of itself. The modern building blends the natural and the man-made with a seamless ease. A man-made waterfall cuts through the rock and into a basin at the head of the garden. Flowers are arranged into intricate arcs and circles. Cacti are nestled together looking out onto L.A in the prickly warmth.
Citrus College, where we were working, is a community college. This means that many of the students are receiving a free (or practically free) higher education. The students are bright, grounded, intelligent. They have an excellent performing arts program and we engaged with many talented and promising young actors. When we performed for them, in the round, we found a new energy to the show. Something in having to slightly adapt the blocking for the theatre and the kind energy brought by the audience made for one of our favorite shows we’ve done here.
This week was unusual as we had a full week end off. A full week end off in L.A! Saturday I took the tram into Little Tokyo to treat myself to lunch. I then pottered to a local brewery to sample some of their produce, before meeting Lucy and her boyfriend George (aka G-force) to stroll along Venice beach.
As I have found with much of America, L.A is a city of extremes. On the one hand you have Beverly Hills, the Hollywood sign, Venice Beech, Malibu: the list goes on. But on the other, you see tents set up on the side of roads where people shelter, a woman passed out on the street, the homeless riding on trams for stop after stop after stop just to have somewhere to sit and then a man inhaling a misty vapor from a pipe to get away from it all. I left questioning the city and questioning myself.
Austin is the city we are all the most excited about and it did not disappoint. It is the capital city of Texas and home to the largest capitol building in the U.S. Yes, it is even bigger than the U.S Capitol in Washington, D.C; the Texans made sure of that. I was told that there are two queues to get in to the Texas Capitol: one if you want to bring your gun in and one if you don’t. But when I went, I’m not sure I saw any evidence of this, so it could be apocryphal. The Capitol building itself is very interesting. Portraits of former Governors, such as George Bush, deck the walls and the chamber has huge paintings of Alamo and San Jacinto (two key battles in Texas’ war with Mexico) hanging at the back.
Austin certainly has a huge amount to offer, but perhaps the main reason we are all excited is that three of our partners are coming to join us. Touring is a wonderful way to live, but if there is a downside it’s missing the people back home. It was an utter joy to be joined by Juliette, Sarah and George for the week. We all got on rather well. In fact, so well that we finished our trip with a drunken game of darts, which I lost… the least said about that the better.
Austin is famous for two things: food and music. My first food stop was to, not one, but two, taco places. The first was a Tex-Mex joint and the second a humble food truck. The humble food truck won hands down. We also went to Micklethwait’s BBQ. The most famous BBQ joint in Austin is Franklin’s but people get in line at 7:00 am to queue for a late lunch. We felt we simply did not have the time to commit to a five hour wait, even though part of me wanted to. It must be good, right? To queue more than 5 hours for? But then again, surely anything would taste good after queuing for 5 hours? You must be starving. Micklethwait’s had no queue and we sat outside in the marvelous Texan sun devouring brisket, sausage, slaw and ribs, absolute heaven.
A real highlight of the week was going to C-Boy’s bar to hear some live music. Austin refers to itself as the live music capital of the world. I expect Nashville would have something to say about that but, hey what do I know.
C-Boy’s is essentially exactly what you imagine a dive bar in Texas to look like. It is small, dark, a neon sign hangs outside and you open what looks like a barn door to get inside. They serve beer and whisky and there is a small stage at the back where the acts play. We saw a funk band to begin with, which we all enjoyed and then a band called Pelvis Wrestley. Firstly, what a name, and secondly, they were superb! It’s hard to pin their music to a particular genre but I would hazard a guess at Country/Alternative/ Punk. They had some absolute bangers and I would highly recommend.
Of all the weeks we’ve had, this week went by the fastest. If we weren’t teaching or doing a show, we were out and about exploring everything that Austin has to offer. It was a truly fantastic week and one I will remember for the rest of my life. I was almost sad to leave, but can anyone be sad when their next stop is California? And not just anywhere in California: LA. Yes, that’s right, we’re off to Hollywood.
