FUTURE Study Abroad Information

Theatre in London England (UK)

Summer 2011 (program runs in odd numbered years only)

Sponsored by the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts & Letters and arranged through the Office of Study Abroad (OSA)

What's this program about?

Students will spend five weeks in London intensively studying British theatre through attending:

  • performances
  • workshops
  • lectures by British professionals
  • backstage tours
  • performance training
  • various field trips

The program includes attendance at a minimum of 15 productions at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, and West End and Fringe Theatres. Field trips to Bath and Stratford-on-Avon to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform are included.

Students will explore theatre history, actor training, and/or design with British specialists and the program may include workshops at the Globe, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Shared Experience or the Royal National Theatre.

What can I study?

Students are required to enroll in a minimum of six (6) credits from the following course offerings:

  • THR 480 - Study Abroad in Theatre - 1 cr. (All students must enroll in this course.)
  • IAH 241D - Theater and Society in the West - 4 cr.
  • THR 390 - Special Topics: Acting and Voice - 2 cr.
  • THR 432 - History of Theatre since 1850 - 3 cr.
  • THR 313 - Period Research and Resources - 3 cr.
  • THR 813 - Period Resources for Directors and Designers - 3 cr.
  • THR 832 - Studies in Comparative Theatre and Drama - 3 cr.
  • *THR 490 - Independent Study - 1-4 cr.
  • *THR 890 - Independent Study - 1-4 cr.

*With the approval of the Department of Theatre and Karen Kangas-Preston, students with special requirements can enroll in the appropriate independent study course. Please contact Karen prior to enrolling for any independent study.

What are the requirements?

Students must be in good academic standing, with a grade point average of at least 2.5 at the time of application. Meeting this minimum grade point average does not, however, guarantee admission. A selection interview with Karen may be required.
Applicants' participation may be denied or their participation approval may be revoked if their conduct before departure raises doubts as to their suitability for program participation.

Where will I live?

Students will be housed in a four-story early 19 th Century townhouse centrally located in London. The townhome has been converted to include cooking facilities in each student room and bathrooms on each level. A common room with satellite TV, computer stations, and WiFi is available for student use.

Who can tell me more about this program?

Karen Kangas-Preston
Department of Theatre
46 Auditorium
Phone: (517) 353-9219
E-mail: kangaspr@msu.edu

The program fee in 2009 was $4484 and included the following:

  • application fee ($100)
  • deposit ($200)
  • pre-departure orientation
  • accommodations
  • admission to all productions, tours and workshops
  • accident and sickness insurance
  • field trips

Amounts not included in the program fee for which participants will need to budget include:

  • MSU tuition and fees
  • airfare
  • meals
  • books and supplies
  • passport application fee ($100)
  • visa application fees (if applicable)
  • pre-departure doctor visits
  • pre-departure immunizations (if applicable)
  • personal spending money

Study Abroad Information from the Summer '09 Experience

Theatre in London England (UK)

Week ONE from Faculty Advisor: Karen Kangas-Preston

Despite the ridiculous heat and deplorable travel conditions from the US, everyone made it to London and we have survived the first week! Typical for the program, we had a VERY busy week and have already seen some of the best of London theatre. With four class lecture periods, five museum visits, one guest lecture, one hands-on site tour and four evening performances it has been a very full first week.

Our museum visits have taken us from pre-Roman London (at the Museum of London), to the best of the world (at the British Museum), to amazing book and written word collections (at the British Library) and to visual references of the greats in theatre history- and British history in general--in addition to the amazing photo-realistic painting talent of the stars of tomorrow (at the Portrait Gallery).

We've seen a world premiere (Been So Long at the Young Vic, a new musical about 20-something life in modern London--where the students learned all they ever needed to know of British slang); a European premiere (When the Rain Stops Falling at the Almeida Theatre, a generational drama taking place over 80 years with a fantastic plot twist); a classic performed in a classic (Romeo and Juliet at the Globe); and an extraordinary feat of engineering worked into a touching storyline (War Horse, a National Theatre production at the New London Theatre with the most amazing horse puppets ever seen on stage).

Our guest lecturer was Jane Edwardes, formerly the editor of the theatre section of Time Out London, currently a freelance theatre critic. Jane joined us for a morning to discuss the role of the theatre critic and to give the students advice on writing for and about the theatre. She also had some good tips on shows to see and ones to miss.

The week ended with everyone's favorite activity--a trip to the National Theatre Costume and Prop hire where we got a tour of the facility and the chance to play dress up in the costume collection and drool over the prop collection.

When I left the students for the weekend I told them to enjoy their free time--to which they replied "Free time? What is that?!" With hundreds of options for free time activity this weekend (the gay pride festival and parade which is estimated to bring more than half a million people to central London; waiting in line for Hamlet tickets to see Jude Law on stage; Britain’s version of America's independence day; and markets and vintage clothing fairs) I don't think free time will be an issue!

On to next week with another four plays, two backstage tours, a lecture, a voice workshop, a trip to Bath and Stonehenge, museum trips, and classes!

Week TWO from Faculty Advisor: Karen Kangas-Preston

Two weeks down!

We started the week with Margo Annett's voice class. Margo has a great way of working with each of the students individually on improving the speaking voice and helping with trouble areas. And she gives them assignments, which I like!

Our tour Monday afternoon was of the Royal Opera House. It is impressive, to say the least. They recently (10 years ago) upgraded the original 1850's building to include modern technologies to make producing 45 operas PER YEAR possible. Makes our season of nine shows look pathetic! On Friday, we saw the other end of the spectrum--a backstage tour of the National Theatre. We luckily had a mid afternoon tour and were able to go onto two of the three stages and to tour the props and scenic studios. While not as ornate or nearly as massive, the National is the place that everyone wants to work. Our tour guide was fantastic and gave us the email address of the costume studio manager so we will try to go back for a return trip to tour the costume space.

We saw four shows this week and attended a Platform Discussion at the National. As always, the shows were varied--big budget musical (Billy Elliot) at the Victoria Palace Theatre; a new, political drama (The Observer) at the National's Cottesloe Theatre; an absurdist comedy (Home) at the Theatre Royal Bath; and a fairy tale/Tim Burton-esque Shakespeare (All's Well That Ends Well) at the National's Olivier Theatre. The Platform Discussion was with Janet Zusman, a well-known Shakespearean actress, discussing Acting in a Shakespearean Comedy (which she has also done for the BBC's Acting Masterclass series).

This week included a field trip out of London to Bath, a much different pace to what we have gotten used to in London. One of the students commented on how it was a cruel joke to take them to someplace so much quieter when they had finally gotten used to life in London. Of course, after spending the night at Brook's Guesthouse, the majority vote was to stay in Bath and commute to London every day. If you ever to go to Bath, definitely stay at Brook's! It is fantastic. We had a walking tour of the city Wednesday afternoon followed by a trip to the Fashion Museum and the Roman Baths--unfortunately both were really crowded with large tourist groups which made it difficult to enjoy the experience. A couple students took advantage of the free time in Bath Thursday morning to have a bath in Bath--they went to the Thermae Bath Spa for a two hour soak in the 10,000 year old hot spring water (not to be confused with the Roman Baths, where you are NOT allowed to touch the water due to the lead lining of the pool). We went on to Stonehenge that afternoon.(photo on the left)

Bonus photo (on the right)--the group outside the National Theatre on Friday afternoon. The giant "lawn" furniture is part of Watch This Space, free outdoor activities daily at the National. I think some of the group are planning on going back for an aerial dance workshop later in the summer.

Stonehenge National Theatre

Weeks THREE and FOUR from Faculty Advisor: Karen Kangas-Preston

SO, in the past two weeks we have:

  • had nine classes
  • saw seven shows (with one more still to come this afternoon)
  • had a tour of the Globe
  • had a walking tour of Oxford and learned about some of the many differences between American and UK university
  • visited the five Shakespeare properties in and around Stratford
  • had breakfast with the actor playing Brutus in Julius Ceasar at the RSC
  • had dinner at the Dirty Duck
  • went to the Victoria and Albert museum
  • and enjoyed a much needed four day weekend
  • AND there may have been some harmless stalking of Alan Rickman at the theatre last night, but I prefer not to have too many details about that type of activity.

We have video footage to share in the future of the grads doing a "scene" from Midsummer at the Glob theatre (that's no typo; at Anne Hathaway's cottage outside Stratford they have built a temporary space they are calling the Glob).

Only one week left!

Week FIVE from Faculty Advisor: Karen Kangas-Preston

It's Friday of week five and the students have left the city. This week has been a good end to a busy five weeks in London. We had some classes (of course!), went to a couple museums (hit the full spectrum with a trip to the National Gallery with art from 1250 through 1900 and then the Tate Modern with artworks from 1900 to today); had a workshop with the amazing theatre company Shared Experience; a behind the scenes tour of the costume facilities at the National Theatre; and saw three great shows (and many famous faces in them – Samantha Bond, Ed Stoppard, Jessie Cave, and Hugh Mitchell in Arcadia, Mark Rylance and Mackenzie Crook in Jerusalem; and Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Simon Callow in Waiting for Godot).

It's been a great five weeks and as much as we are sad to see it end, it's also time to come home (although a few of the students are extending their abroad experience by traveling in Europe for a few more days).

Below is a group photo taken outside Pickwick Hall after our final meeting--and a bonus photo from last week of a few of the students hamming it up after their "Glob" performance.

Pickwick Hall Post 'Glob' performance

Study Abroad Photos 2008

Trafalgar Square on 12 July Trafalgar Square on 12 July Trafalgar Square on 12 July

The world record for most people dancing a choreographed piece at once has been broken and eight MSU Theatre in London students took part (Sebastian Gerstner, Lori Sands, Marie Louis, Alara Cerikci, Julianne Valentine, Laura Aughton and Ally Wyzgoski). There was a total of 2449 people in Trafalgar Square on 12 July dancing a piece choreographed by Aletta Collins.

The Globe Theatre Tour

Tuesday morning started at the Globe Theatre with a tour of the space and then a workshop based on King Lear with one of the actors. We ended the morning with a tour of the exhibition at the Globe with a bonus session by the man who makes the swords used on stage. That afternoon the theatre history class returned to the National Portrait Gallery to share what they had learned about their assigned theatre personalities from the "scavenger hunt" in week one.

National Theatre Costume Hire and Storage

Tuesday morning's class was greatly overshadowed by our afternoon trip to the National Theatre Costume Hire and Storage that afternoon. What began as a simple tour ended with an almost two hour long session of dress up. We were allowed free reign in their storage as long as everything got hung back up in the correct spot.

Students at Stonehenge

Thursday morning was another early start to head for Bath. It was much warmer than Stratford for our walking tour of the city. Our guide was very excited about everything she had to show us, but kept us moving to get as much in as possible. We ended the walking tour at the Fashion Museum where we had audio tours and got to try on corsets and crinolines. Trying on costumes is always a highlight with theatre students. We also toured the Roman Baths that afternoon. Many of the students were brave enough to sample the spa water. In the photo are a few of the students at Stonehenge.

Group photo taken at Pickwick Hall

Tuesday night was a performance of ...some trace of her at the National Theatre. This is another phenomenal multi-media production, directed by Katie Mitchell, known for her non-traditional directing techniques. She used a combination of stage acting and live action filming, and sound provided by a live string ensemble and Foley technique sound effects. The story of the play is based on Dostoevsky's The Idiot. It is told through the filmed sequences shown on a large screen and acted out at various locations on stage with the actors utilized not only as actors but also as camera operators, props people, lighting designers, voice overs, and sound effects. While we may not have been able to sum up the plot easily after seeing the production, the process was the most fascinating thing I have ever seen (and many of the students agree). Group photo taken at Pickwick Hall