London’s calling and USU theater students answer
attend her annual class at an international summer school program in England.
Linford said for the past four years she has accompanied USU students to the University of Northampton where they spend summer semester learning about English theater and rehearsing for their own performance of an English play, in a course called “Acting: British Society Onstage!”
Linford said throughout this year’s semester, which goes from July 8 to Aug. 16, participants will visit historic places in England, including Warwick Castle, Blenheim Palace, Bath and Brighton, along with other European locales, including Northern Italy and Scotland. Linford said the students will also attend plays in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, starring veteran actors, including Jeremy Irons, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Kathleen Turner and Woody Harrelson, to study acting and British theater.
“That’s why I do this trip, is because I really want students to see fine acting,” Linford said. “I want them to know what the very best is so that all of the sacrifices they have to make to achieve that goal are put in perspective. I think if you know what the reward is; you’re much happier about the struggles along the way and, of course, I think the British theater is the finest theater in the world – and I’ve seen my fair share of groundbreaking performances.”
Linford said the “jewel in the crown” of the whole experience is the students’ presentation of an English play they’ve rehearsed during the semester, which will be performed for a local audience in several rooms and gardens of the historic Kelmarsh Hall Estate.
A two-time participant, Amanda Beatty, said about the experience, “I don’t know of any other acting program that lets you actually be on-site inside these beautiful ancient houses and perform as if you are these characters in a place where they would actually be. For young actors I think that’s an amazing experience.”
Linford said students have performed plays by famous British writers like Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde in past trips, and this year’s performance will be a comedy by Noel Coward called “Relative Values,” which is set in wealthy 1930s England.
Linford said the students will research for the roles in the play by going to sites steeped in 1930s British culture, including Victoria and Albert Museum, Castle Howard, homes in Chatsworth that were occupied by the rich and famous of the 1930s, and also by observing the everyday culture of England.
“When you’re there as a student, there is just so much time to luxuriate and people-watch instead of always being one of the people watched,” Linford said. “When you’re trying to replicate on the stage someone who’s British, that down time becomes important – that observation time, and you’d be surprised how easy it is to pick up a British accent when it’s being spoken all around you. It’s almost as if our studying of the dialect is unnecessary.”
Linford said 10 USU students are attending this year and there are two openings, which can be filled by any USU students. Linford said all students will participate in the trip’s culminating performance even if they have no acting experience.
“We have had people from chemistry and interior design and journalism go in the past,” Linford said. “They might play the maid or the butler or just a small role so they don’t get frightened or intimidated, but they still learn all about the characterizations in the play, the playwright, all the research that goes into putting on a play.”
Linford said students should take advantage of this opportunity because the University of Northampton’s cheap lodgings and accommodations may be unavailable in future summers when the traditional summer break for British college students is done away with.
“This program has a limited shelf life because when that happens we can’t go,” Linford said.
Linford said students who are interested in joining the class this summer should contact her at 797-3050 or by e-mail at -llinford@hass.usu.edu.
-alexmaug@cc.usu.edu