Oedipus Rex at Lower Ossington Theatre

Oedipus Rex at Lower Ossington Theatre

Hey-lo,
Alona here. I just came back from a school field trip to see Oedipus Rex downtown by The Classical Theatre Project (http://www.facebook.com/classicaltheatreproject?ref=mf) at Lower Ossington Theatre. It was absolutely brilliant. The atmosphere was so intimate and real and it really made the play come alive. The take on the play was very sci-fi and modern with hints of World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union. The actors were phenomenal, particularly the actors who played Creon and Oedipus Rex. My favourite parts of it were probably when Jocasta hung herself (excellent effects with the noose) and after Oedipus ripped his eyes out and was all bloody. (I LOVE BLOODY SCENES AND GROSS STUFF, if you can't already tell:D). The make-up was extremely well done, as I already mentioned, especially the eye-blood-blind thing with Oedipus.

After the play, Daniela, Harlea and I went to eat some lunch. The part of downtown we were in was totally unfamiliar to me seeing as I've never been there before. It was heavily raining and FREEZING outside so we were trying to run to the nearest restaurant with a familiar name as to not get stuck in a some horrible pub with disgusting food. We ran down the street and found some kitschy cute diner/bar and we headed inside. The owners were this elderly Greek couple who reminded me of the parents in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. We decided to stay since the menu looked both appetizing and inexpensive. Daniela and I both ordered Souvalki with Rice & Chicken while Harlea ordered a burger with fries. While we were waiting for our meals to arrive (which I must add, were delicious), an elderly man entered the diner. He was dressed in ragged clothes and smelled profusely of smoke. He called the diner owner by name and she acknowledged him back. He then proceeded to sit right next to our table. The diner owner returned with a plain cheese sandwich. He had uttered that he wanted brown bread instead but will eat it anyways. She had gone and the man was now left alone to entertain himself. He did so by talking loudly to himself and then moved to talk at the television. To be honest, he was starting to scare me by his manic appearance and gestures but I tried to calm myself and remind myself that I wasn't in the suburbs anymore and this was life in downtown. My group and I tried to keep eating our food when another man entered the diner. He was also of middle age and was holding a red stopwatch object and as he entered, he came directly towards our table and decided to show us his new object that he "bought for only 5 dollars!". After he showed us his new item, he moved on to show the homeless man I previously talked about. The homeless man seemed defiant to it but warned him not to break it because he bought the same item and broke it and the cashier wouldn't let him return it. It was then where Harlea noticed the item came from a sex toy store. As she notified us of this, we were ready to get out of there but weren't finished eating yet. As we sat there, being scared of harm, we realized at the opposite end of the bar was a man (also of middle age) staring directly at us. He was covered in tattoos and was wearing a cowboy hat and a wife beater (and trousers too, of course LOL). His look was menacing and was really frightening me but I figured, he was at the end of the bar and furthest away from us whereas the homeless was less than a metre away from us and was still loudly out loud to no one. As Daniela was finishing her meal, I realised that another two men were staring directly at us. They weren't even looking away or pretending not to be looking at us when we saw their glares. They had no intention of breaking their stares. I was really starting to get creeped out now. All these full grown men gawking and we were just 3 young girls in an absolutely unknown area. As soon as we finished eating, we ran out of there making sure that no one was following us. Although, Harlea had told us after that the man in the cowboy hat was following us for about 2 minutes but soon lost us. If I had known that at the present moment, I would've probably cried or something. I was really trying to act brave and calm but at that moment, I was so vulnerable and worried.
That whole experience really made me realise how inexperienced and vulnerable I really am. Now, I'm not so sure I could ever survive in the cut-throat world of an urban city such as New York City (where I was hoping to go for med school training). Maybe things will be different then (I would be 24/25/26 years old by then) but I know myself and personalities do not change (at least not mine). Also, I was looking at medical schools in the Caribbean and now I'm not even so sure I could handle living in England for 1 year, and then the Caribbean for another year. I'm worried it will be too hard for me. OOH! IDEA! I think I need a bodygaurd. Any takers?? Henry???

Hahaha, I'm happy to end this on a good note. Even though that was a kind of scary experience (although by many people's standards, it wasn't scary), the day was overall excellent and I hope to go see many more plays downtown (I doubt I'll come back to that diner though).

Love,
allie
xoxo

It's been a loooooooooooooong time.

Heyo,
Yes I know, it's been ages. I've been so busy with school and all my extra curricular activities but since today I have a lovely break I've decided I should write a quick update. I've started school and it's been...interesting. It's definitely much harder than what I had expected. I really did forget how to work hard over the summer and now it's come back to bite me in the arse. Long gone are the days of lazing around and watching the telly. Now I'm lucky if I can get a good night's sleep. Since I'm a part of Student Council at my school, I have to be present at every single school event and help plan and partake in each event. This is driving me up the wall!!! I don't have time for this! Student council is so disorganized because people are elected for their popularity and not for their work ethic or intelligence. I would LOVE to quit but unfortunately I need these extra curricular clubs so I can get a scholarship. Ahh wouldn't life be easy if my family was rich?? Well I have a ton of things to do (you can probably tell by the urgency of the TYPING) so I'll write more (hopefully) sooner than later. Sorry for trashing Student Council but it really is insane. Hopefully things will improve by my next post. I'll let you know!
Love,
allie
xoxoxo