Tamalpais High School Conservatory Theatre Ensemble (CTE) sent 23 of its students to London, United Kingdom, on Feb. 19 as part of the Tam Global Studies program.
The annual London trip through CTE had three accompanying chaperones: Bob Ernst, Susan Brashear, and CTE Director Ben Cleveland. It included 10 days with nine plays, numerous sightseeing adventures, backstage tours, and theatrical workshops, as indicated by a trip itinerary supplied to participating students.
Some of their activities involved seeing “Cabaret” at the Playhouse Theatre and “My Neighbour Totoro” at the Barbican Theatre, as well as touring The Globe Theatre where many of William Shakespeare’s plays were performed, according to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
“I’m looking forward to seeing a bunch of different plays,” Tam junior and London participant Canyon Sallady said before the trip.
“After working very hard in the CTE Tam Drama program, I’m so excited to watch professional actors perform live,” Tam junior and London participant Anna Kornfeld said.
After the visit, Tam junior and London participant William Freas said one of the highlights was seeing “Cabaret.”
“They do such a great job addressing the heavy topic of the Holocaust in play form, and just have absolute control over the audience. One moment you’re crying and laughing, and the next moment, the entire theater is completely silent. They create such an amazing, beautiful atmosphere,” Freas said.
A new aspect of the trip was the acting workshop at Complicité, an international touring theater company based in London, according to its website. The students participated in a warm-up with games, then moved into working with fixed points and the seven levels of tension, which are two theatrical exercises.
“One thing that I learned [from the workshop] was pace and intensity throughout a scene and throughout a play overall,” Freas said. “It made me think about a lot of the productions I’ve seen at CTE or been in because everything is really high intensity real quick, and then shifting into low intensity and having variation within it [is important].”
The students returned on Feb. 29.