Emmanuel Jal

Recently, at Hillsong London, T and some friends heard the testimony of a former child soldier from Sudan - Emmanuel Jal.

Jal had been a child soldier for five years, from the age of seven or eight. During his time as a child soldier he was forced to commit unspeakable acts, as he fought for the rebel army in Sudan's civil war.

In order to recover from his time as a 'Child Warrior', he poured himself into music, and as a result, delivers some of the most powerful music you will ever hear. Jal was seen performing at Mandela's 90th birthday, and is heard in a few episodes of E.R. and the movie, 'Blood Diamond'.

His story was extremely sad and, simultaneously, very powerful. Visit his website to learn more about him and his personal plight to build a school in the Sudanese town he grew up in.

http://www.emmanueljal.org/

Treading the boards

With two trips to OZ, Christmas, and six weeks of teaching in less than two months, it would seem difficult to believe that T and hubs had managed to squeeze anything else in. However, T managed to see a ballet, two Shakespearean performances, and she ice-skated at the Tower of London. T and hubs also spent their fifth wedding anniversary in York and they saw the biggest snowfall London has experienced in over 20 years! Life in London Town is never dull.

This brings T to her current favourite topic of conversation - theatre in London!

The first performance T was lucky enough to see was the ballet production of, 'Edward Scissorhands'. The production was housed at Sadler Wells, and was simply one of the most engaging and colourful perfomances T has ever seen. The visit was a gift from her brother and sis-in-law, and it was a real treat.

The second performance T and hubs saw was at Wyndham's Theatre. This is the second production T has seen at Wyndham's Theatre - the first was Chekhov's 'Ivanov' starring Kenneth Branagh. This time around they were seeing, as a gift from their flat-mates, 'Twelfth Night', starring Derek Jacobi. The peformance was outstanding - both uproariously funny and completely mesmorising. The next two performances of Wyndham's theatre season are 'Madame de Sade' starring Dame Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike, and 'Hamlet' starring Jude Law. Needless to say, T will definitely be along for those two!

The other performances T has seen have been school theatre trips she has organised for her fifth and sixth formers. It is an interesting task taking 12 and 13 year old boys to the theatre, but they have been respectful audience members and so it has been a pleasant experience, so far. She has taken them to see, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' put on by the RSC and 'Lord of the Flies' at the Unicorn Theatre. 'Lord of the Flies' was outstanding - a little bloody, but so powerful. It made for much discussion in the classroom the following day.

If there is one thing that T will miss when the time comes to eventually leave London, it will be the theatre. Besides New York, it seems there is no other place in the world which houses such amazing productions night after night. There are so many experienced actors and the productions are so profitable that they manage to have one actor for each part, unlike many other places which see one actor playing two or three small parts. T (and hubs) love it!

T's signed copy of Ivanov's program