what an unforgettable time
my grandson spent
with his schoolmates
helping to create
an original play in 24 hours
writers, actors, stage crew, director, light crew, props, costumes, staging, sound
it was a such a joy to see it all come to life on the stage.
—
“the theatre is so endlessly fascinating because it’s so accidental. it’s so much like life.”
-arthur miller
walking through the city
i noticed
a lot of people
dressed differently
than the usual weekend attire
how fun to discover
that people from all over
of all ages and stages
had come to town to be part of
an ‘alice in wonderland’ immersive experience.
also fun to imagine them crossing paths with the families
who might be nervous
dropping off their child at the uni
visiting our city for the first time.
“what kind of city is this?!”
“this wasn’t in the brochure.”
“do you think they’ll be safe here?”
and this was only day one.
—
“when I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened,
and now here I am in the middle of one!”
-lewis carroll, alice’s adventures in wonderland/through the looking-glass
not to be outdone
after one of his classmates
dramatically hung her long braid down from the tower
declaring she was rapunzel
ih decided he wanted to be rapunzel too
dramatically hanging his bangs down from the tower
declaring he was rapunzel
and it’s true
you can never have too many rapunzels.
scout (in the original), walks home dressed as a ham.
—
I was cast to play scout
in a scene from ‘to kill a mockingbird’
as a favor for my friend
who was in an oral interpretation class
during her later in life college days.
the scene was the one
where scout was dressed as a ham
walking home through the woods
and the victim of an unknown attacker.
as I’m an incredibly horrible actress
I double-checked to see if she was sure
about wanting me for the role.
she was desperate and had no one else
so I was perfect, and was in!
she also cast my boyfriend at the time
as my brother
and our about to deliver a baby any second friend
as the narrator
that was it.
the only actors in the scene.
we were the holy trinity of non-talent.
one important thing that I needed to know
in spite of knowing my few lines
to be delivered in a frantic southern accent
with lots of screaming and thrashing movements
was that my attacker was not going to actually exist on stage
it was all interpretive
I had to imagine and act
like I was being attacked
as I wrestled with my invisible assailant.
at last the big day finally arrived
the curtain rose
I drawled and shrieked out my part
rolling around, slamming into the walls
and fighting my attacker who did not exist
all while dressed in my ham costume.
once it was over
we all took our bows
happy when the curtain finally went down.
after, I asked my friend’s husband,
(who was kind enough to have been in the audience
so we would be sure to have someone who clapped)
what he thought of my performance
and while his review was not exactly as expected
it was probably right on the mark:
‘you were like a cat in heat!’
my friend got an ‘a’ on the project.
—
“drama starts where logic ends.”
-ram charan
—
image credits: ‘to kill a mockingbird’ -universal pictures
and the rest should stay back?
sign found by the parent drop-off circle
at my school in the morning.
from a class the night before
but it works in the morning too.
—
“you cannot have the drama without comedy.”
-tommy wiseau
I didn't have my glasses on.... 