Summer and Venetians

I promised I would explain, and here we go.

This summer I decided to take a 5-week Shakespeare camp. It was split up into 4 age groups (I in the oldest), and we were assigned plays based on the group. The youngest kids got The Merry Wives of Windsor, the two middling age groups both got As You Like It, and we older kids got The Merchant of Venice. The groups were named, respectively, the Falstaffs, the Touchstones, the Foresters (I might have mixed up the AYLI groups), and us: the Venetians. 14 people not counting myself (16 counting our director and intern). 14 (16) of the most wonderful people I have ever met. We all became very close over those weeks, we put on a great show at the end, and at the cast party we truly bonded as a collection of friends. We also officially bestowed upon each other the titles that had been decided upon over those weeks.

I, as my name implies, am Disconcerting. I played Tubal.

Strident played an amazing Shylock. As mentioned previously, she has a blog, and that was what actually prompted me to get mine.

Eloquent played Antonio. He also plays the violin. That concert I attended last weekend...WOW.

Impulse played Morocco and the Duke. She was the one person I knew already, as she goes to my school. But you probably figured that out from my references to her in Reindeer Soup.

Squeak played Bassanio. I can't remember why we gave her the title of Squeak. Oh, well. Great Bassanio.

Presence played Lorenzo. I heard he did a very disturbing villian a while back. Now that I've seen him as the lover boy I would really like to see that!

Ridiculously Cute played Jessica. She's always smiling...except when doing an improv scene for our acting teacher. At the end of that scene everybody rushed forward to give her a hug.

Penguin played Gratiano. His title came about through the shirts he always wore. "One by one the penguins steal my sanity" and such.

Mysterious played S...oh, shoot. Was it Solanio or Salerio? Whoever's got the "My daughter!!!" monologue. Very memorable performance. EDIT: It's Solanio.

Fireball played the other S. Too bad she lives in Tennessee. EDIT: It's Salerio.

Everything played Portia. She would try to do anything, everything that needed to be done. Hence the title.

Gift played Nerissa. Something I have learned over our (Venetian) meetings in the weeks following the camp: If you are feeling drowsy, a few minutes of swing dancing with Gift are more effective than any amount of caffeine. Whoo...that girl has energy.

Man played Old Gobbo. I would describe his old-man performances as, "Incredible! Unbelievable!"Bit of an in-joke, that.

Closet Goof played Lancelot Gobbo. Where did you go, Goof? We haven't seen or heard from you in a long time!

Absent played Aragon and Leonardo. Ah...the title was a bit of cruelty on my part. He had often shown up late and then had to go out of town for a few days, so when possible titles were being thrown about I suggested Absent. He didn't complain too vehemently, though.

Omniscient...SOOO helpful! I don't know what we would have done without her. She also started a script for "The Merchant of Venice II: Back to the Whorehouse." I beleieve that's a reference to another one of our many in-jokes.

Omnipotent was our director, and she did a fanstatic job. She is currently teaching an acting/movement/suzuki/composition class. Impulse, Strident, Presence, Ridiculously Cute, Squeak, and I are all in that class.

That's all for now, but I will be back once I've gotten Solanio and Salerio sorted out.