A Midsummer Night's Dream... Revisited

Well, here I am, several weeks later! And today is our last performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. All in all, we have been having 'okay' turnouts- although we did have a full house in Rancho Cucamonga. I guess it's because this play has been promoted as something it is not- and that's why my director feels so strongly about showing and promoting the real Shakespeare, not as something profane, not as something boring.

I will be posting the pictures from all different performances later.

Excitement Builds

Yes, excitement builds, and the "fun" stuff begins. Angela now 'denounces' herself as, though still our mentor, a director. I love her both ways:)

The days at Shakespeare have become longer and more intense; we start now at 10 am until 2:30. As of next week we will have a two-week intensive at Angela's home, and will be running through parts of the show everyday five days a week, from 10 to 4. It will be an exhausting, albeit concrete, to building high this brick wall. I'm ready!

First Rehearsal!

Hello! You will not believe (or will you?) when I say I haven't blogged on here in a month. (You may not have believed me, but it's true!)And so much has happened in the past month. I decided firmly to not blog until I would have something or other just a teensy bit more interesting to tell you except for blocking... and blocking... and more blocking. Enough said. Two weeks ago was our first rehearsal, meaning (hurrah!) the hard part is over: no more blocking:-) Yes, our first rehearsal only lasted about fifteen minutes, but it was a REHEARSAL! No more "let us try" or "try it backwards", but a no-one-speaks, do-it-as-if-you're-on-stage rehearsal. And it was fun!

~Re-arranging the Stuff~

SO... today was Shakespeare class, and we began with a little speech by Angela. And then, we went- (drum roll, please) straight to BLOCKING! The fairies managed an arrangement for our song to sing our beloved Queen Titania to sleep, warning all evil "things of the night" to leave her be.

"(Verse One) You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.

(Chorus) Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby;
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby:
Never harm,
Nor spell nor charm,
Come our lovely lady nigh;
So, good night, with lullaby.

(Verse Two) Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence.

Philomel, with melody, etc."

Angela changed a little of last week's bit of blocking, and on we went. The first verse of the song is to "Just Around the Riverbend" from the Disney film, Pocahontas. (Whoops... did I really have to say that???) Oh, well:)

A Call...

Just a little tidbit I found interesting about Macbeth. Macbeth's servant's name is 'Seyton.' Say that three times and tell me what it sounds like:P. Anyhow, it takes forever for him to anser to Macbeth's call, showing complete unrest and turmoil in Macbeth's kingdom. Ick!

A Stack of Blocks (No, not toys)

Last Thursday (again, sorry about the lateness), was another week of blocking. I designed my costume, and showed it to Angela, and she liked it; and we ran through the blocked scene, read through another, etc.

All the blocking, like a set of children's toys, tops one after the other, making an interesting and exciting play really exciting.

Shakespeareience

Shakespeareience was yesterday, in Glendale. It featured several different love scenes from some of Shakespeare's most "loved plays," namely, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, and Hamlet. Some of them were a little off by way of portrayal; and I'm looking forward more to our show in May.

Pattern after Pattern

In Composition class today, we had a review on pattern and rythym: Trochaic, for instance. My teacher used an excerpt from Shakespeare *surprise*.

"Honor, riches, marriage-blessing
Long continuance and increasing
Hourly joys be still upon you;
Juno sings her blessings on you!"

Trachaic pattern; four beat tetrameter. Ha!

Dates

For those who would like to know:
We have four performance dates this year, including (hurrah!) one down here in the desert. One is down in Palm Desert, the Matinee, so at 2 o' clock, on May the 8th (2010, of course:-) ) I will post the other dates, and times later.

Blocking... as a Whole

Wow! I'm sorry (and really shocked) at how long it has taken me to write last week's "episode" of Shakespeare class.

Blocking the scene featuring the argument between Oberon and Titania was genius on Angela's part. (For those of you who aren't sure, blocking is when you cast the "moves" or "where to go," for an un-blocked play. Since Shakespeare's plays are almost always never blocked, this is generally the most tedious part of performing any of his plays... in addition to your lines, you must memorize the blocking as well. However, Angela tends to make things fascinating and fun at the same time.)

She pulled up an Act II, Scene '0', instead of immediately jumping into II.1, in which Oberon is spying on Queen Titania and the fairies playing with the changling boy, so the audience kind of gets an idea about what the fairy king and queen are arguing about, and to show how much Titania enjoys her changling boy, and why she dislikes the idea of giving him to Oberon. In II.1, we started the blocking. That was loads of fun... and you'll have to wait and see how it turns out!

You Will Never be Alone with a Poet in your Pocket!

I'm currently reading John Adams, a perfectly intriguing book about our famous president. It says that he loves Shakespeare, along with his wife Abigail! "But in his need to fathom the "labyrinth" of human nature, as he said, he was drawn to Shakespeare, and Swift, and was likely to carry... a volume of English poetry with him on his journeys. "You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket," he would tell his son Johnny." (Page 19)

If you noticed, there was not only Shakespeare in there, but also references made to English poetry, and Swift. This is a great book that will transport you to many different places besides the history of our president, John Adams.

"Out, Spot!"

Monday in Omnibus again, we went over Macbeth, and had an interesting but fun assignment: watching a version/interpretation of Macbeth. I chose to watch the Folger's edition, (in all actuality a magnificent play) which was, as I stated above, very interesting, and very well done.

There was an interesting fact we came up with: Lady Macbeth is completely contradictory, when, at the beginning of the play, and just after the murder of Duncan, that a little water will wash the blood off of her husband Macbeth's hands. (How gruesome, I know.) Now, however, in 5.1, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, and talking, and rubbing her hands in her sleep, alarmed at the growing spot on her hands, muttering about how the act just won't come undone. Gross and creepy, but a great reminder of how, once sin and Satan gets a foothold in our hearts, it takes God's grace to help all come undone, just as the doctor tells Lady Macbeth's maid when witnessing this scene.

What We Are

"We know what we are, but we know not what we may be."
~William Shakespeare

"Fairy Savors"

Thursday: first meeting of all the fairies! Well, most of them: our Queen Titania's were there (Annelise and Tai), and us fairies(Me, Madison, Reagen)! We choreographed a dance, and Mrs. Ward is going to do the blocking of the supernaturals and fairies as of next week. We went through the lines, and just had fun! Also, it was extremely interesting to "watch," (actually we heard more than watched)the others, namely the Athenian Court, and Mechanicals, and Supernaturals.

Fair is Foul... Now is Foul Fair?

We've started our long-awaited and anticipated discussion on Macbeth in Omnibus (which is part of school). I was selected, along with friends Haley and Lillian to be the three "weird sisters"! Lillian has this perfect witch-like voice, and so does Haley. We got to do the first scene in the play, and then again in scene three.

Kalahan, who is also part of the "Omnibus Crew" pointed out an important fact about these two scenes: The last line of the first scene, all the witches proclaim,
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair,
Hover through the fog and filthy air."

Macbeth's first line is (1.3):
"So foul and fair a day I have not seen."

The similarities between the two lines echoes an eerieness. We know right away that something is not all right... Macbeth and the three sisters are saying almost the exact same thing, only in different ways. Oooh!

Sorry about Thursday... again, the little girls were sick. (And, believe me, it's been circling through our family since December). It's just the remainder cough. :-(

Midsummer Night's Dream- First Day of Interpretation

Thursday: almost everyone arrived at Shakespeare with a good will, and excitement and anticipation in hearts and minds. Mrs. Harvigson, who (along with Shakespeare's input in his plays)is genrally the one mostly in charge of the set design, showed us how to make a canvas out of sheets, and offered anyone who wanted to help paint the scenery to do so- nearly everyone volunteered:)

Then Mrs. Ward came, and we ran through Act I, Scene I of the play... in which Theseus, Hippolyta, Hermia, Egeus, Helena, Demetrius, Lysander and- well, anyone else who was in that scene was introduced. Along with the conflict. And the poetry.

Those afore mentioned then went outside and "re-wrote" the scene in modern day English (just for fun, not for the performance), and came back in and put the scene on for us- which, I can tell you, was tons of fun to watch, and even more so to do, I'm sure.

"It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeded."

-Anne Morrow Lindebergh

Time is of the Essence

"Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before,
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked elipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time that gave doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow:
And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand."

-Sonnet Sixty

Just found this: "Be happy in this moment, this moment is your life!"

So... here are some happiness moments with my girlfriends:)

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Yesterday: Midsummer Night's Dream auditions! Yay! We will get the results within the next few days... can't wait!

The Huntington Library

Thursday of last week devoted itself to the fieldtrip of our Shakespearian group to go to... (drum roll, please)
.... The Huntington Library!

There, we saw some of Shakespeare's first published scripts, and a beautiful, life-like, statue of Puck. We also saw the original painting of the famous actress, Sarah Siddons, who was famous for playing Hamlet, and all the leading roles in Shakespeare's plays (not with him, of course). The "Library" was owned by Henry Huntington, and covered with his relics for 207 acres. We visited the Shakespeare garden, which was placed right outside of the main estate, which is now used as the showroom for the art gallery. I will be posting the main pictures later.

School with Veritas Press starts up again on Monday. I'm actually rather excited... we get to read our Anglo-Saxon riddles (see below), and others get to guess what they are. Yay!

Happy New Year!!! Does anyone have any New Year's Resolutions that they would like to post?

I am interested in modeling, photography, acting of course, and set myself a goal to release a Christmas CD of my piano playing by next Christmas.

Hope everyone has a wonderful beginning of the year:-)