The highlight of the second part of this week is without a doubt the performance of The Roaring Girl that we saw on Thursday night. I won’t go into in-depth analysis, but I will just say the actors walked off stage after the closing bows to Beyoncé’s “Girls.” The play was incredibly, complexly feminist and “girl-power” but in a way that also asked important questions about gender, sexuality, and class in a way that seem way ahead of it’s time. I guess the one thing I will say that saddened me slightly afterwards, when AK and I sat in our hotel room and ate Kit-Kats (infinitely better in the UK than in the US) was that clearly these issues have been occurring in society for centuries, and yet the problems are still so present in contemporary society. 
This morning, actress Lisa Dillon came to speak to our class in a post-performance question and answer session. She inspired me with her thoughts on playing Moll Cutpurse, the roaring girl herself. I was awed by the way that she answered from Moll’s perspective. One thing I am developing quickly after two performances is a respect for acting. I realized that the reason Lisa did such a fantastic job as Moll Cutpurse was because of her ability to analyze Moll’s character. She really settled into Moll’s skin and added her own interpretation to Moll.
Lisa also discussed disagreements that she and with the director in terms of choices made during rehearsal that effected Moll’s character (for example, the play’s prominent theme of gender and Moll’s cross-dressing could have made more of a progressive and empowering impression if she had worn a makeup beard AND a wig in the first scene). Learning about this side of theater and how much thought goes into acting and directing has only reinforced the way that I am thinking of Shakespeare’s text and the theater in general. Plays really are like life: full of complexity and room for interpretation. I really am starting to believe that “all the world’s a stage,” and I want to follow Moll’s lead: Lisa signed my journal with advice to “care less,” and perform my best self for the rest of the trip and my life.