'Fore I go to bed...

1. This year's titles are a bit overdue:

Paris: Man of Wax
Romeo #1: Cowboy
Prince (previously Loquacious): Natural
Benvolio (previously Rose): Cookie
Me: Feminine
Juliet #1 (previously Sexmeister): Tempest
Lady Capulet: Darling
Capulet: Quotable
Samson/Friar John (previously Loyal): Lewd
Montague/Apothecary (previously Seductress): Detailed
[Sister] Laurence (previously Sunshine): Chameleon
Gregory/Balthasar: Sing-along
Romeo #2 (previously Slasher): Mmm-hmm
Nurse (previously Knight): Badass
Tybalt (previously Song): Butterfly
Mercutio: And Stuff

2. Cookie, Man of Wax, Darling, Sing-Along, and I went to see the youth rep performance at the Lesher Center. Most of us ran into old friends there.

3. Had my second lesson with the Shakespeare God today. Working on monologues from Death of a Salesman and Brighton Beach Memoirs.

4. Sunday was our 30-minute Romeo & Juliet performance. Afterward we ate at the Metreon, reprised our hip-hop number from 1.5, and rode the carousel. I had lost my old ticket stub, but the OS's sister was kind enough to buy another, so the OS and I went on a later ride (aside: I never pegged the OS as the carousel type when I first met her. Probably 'cause I was utterly intimidated) during which we had a nice conversation. Haven't had many chances for a real one-on-one with her. Learned that she learns more about one than one might expect. *sweat drop*

5. Tomorrow my parents and I are going up to Ashland for a few days for play-viewing purposes. I'll probably use any downtime to work on The Iliad for college.

6. Final Behind-the-Commons movie night was a couple of nights ago. We wached 3:10 to Yuma and 2001: A Space Odyssey. This my second time watching the latter. I still don't get it. Who does? No one. End blog.

The back of my head is very photogenic.

We got to rehearse our 30-minute R&J on-site today, which was very helpful. We also had to excise scenes 4.4, 4.5, and 5.2 to stay under time.

Must bug T about getting my final Dramatic Writing draft back. I wanna make corrections and post it!

Scheduling comes through at last!

Tomorrow morning is my first class with the Shakespeare God. Yes!

Oh, and the Dark Knight is awesome. And dark. And awesome.

Abridgement

If you thought a 30-minute R&J sounded short, it's even crazier once you see the actual script. I'm now Friar Lawrence instead of Juliet #2, and things get very schizophrenic.

The stage doesn't stop

Yesterday I saw Gentleman, Loyal, and Bedlam in I Hate Hamlet (directed by Lantern). I'd heard a lot of good things about the play, and indeed I enjoyed it immensely.

Today I saw Il Trovatore. Also very enjoyable, although it was tempting to laugh whenever I recognized a segment from A Night at the Opera.

Tomorrow begins the Dreamers' week of rehearsal for our 30-minute version. Sunshine, Slasher, Seductress, and [Mercutio] can't do it, so some recasting will be necessary. Also, T invited me and other members of the DAB to a script reading in the evening.

O

If you don't get the post title, then you didn't see Romeo & Juliet. Shame on you.

Last night was our performance (technically, we're also doing a 30-minute version in SF next weekend). It went off so well. Everyone gave it their all, made new choices and discoveries, and made the audience crack up before stabbing them through the heart. I saw a lot of friends there, both old Venetians and otherwise. Furthermore, we were all blown away by how good the younger groups were this year! I have to give a shoutout to the Danes for how they handled a five-Hamlet crew. The actor changes worked extremely well.

Then came the cast party. For the past three summers it has been the highlight, the absolute highlight of the year for me. We couldn't invade Bedlam's house due to preparation for I Hate Hamlet (which I will be seeing tonight, and let no one try to stop me!), but Seductress' parents were kind enough to host (and so were mine in theory (thanks for the food!), but wended up staying there the whole time). And the OS finally came to one of our cast parties, as did our intern and stage manager! After schmoozing outside for sometime, reminiscing, exchanging congratulations, and whatnot, we briefly retired inside to watch a short commemorative video Rose had made from the many clips of what she filmed from our weeks of camp. We lost a few members after, that, sadly, but then it was time for this year's Circle of Love. We got about halfway through before retiring inside, then named and appreciated the rest inside apart from Loyal, Sunshine, and myself before succumbing to sleep. In the morning we organized a failed raid of my house for breakfast (failed because the breakfast had been dropped off back at Seductress' house), ate outside, and finished the Circle. After that we returned to the interior of the house.

When we went back inside it finally hit me that I was not coming back. Sure, I can visit, and I WILL, but this was the last summer I will get to spend working and learning and growing among these wonderful, wonderful people, people who have honestly turned my life around, and this realization caused me to collapse and start crying for the first time in years. I've been sad, to be sure; I've missed people, but I can't even remember the last time I broke down like that. The infamous last day of high school didn't even come close. I had been waiting for a breaking point for months, every so often thinking, "here it comes...nope," and it was a gift to know that I still have that in me. But the absolute best part was that, even though nobody present had ever seen me cry, I didn't feel ashamed or self-conscious in the slightest. I just felt my friends around me, comforting and...there. The relief and safety and love I felt there on the floor defies description.

Venetians, Riotous Knights, and Dreamers by any other name, you have no idea how dearly I will treasure this last week I will spend among you. I love you all from the very bottom of my heart.

Come, thou day in night!

Tomorrow we perform.

My ankles hate me. Not once have Slasher and I died in a comfortable arrangement.

I learned today that Half-Blood Prince is still not safe to spoil. Oops.

Only 6-hour rehearsals? Laaame.

Tomorrow and Thursday are all-day rehearsals. I hope we get to run 3.5 and 5.3 some more. I still need to invest a lot in those scenes. "Stab myself? Uh, sure. Whatever."

Sunshine found some props that had gone missing. *WHEW*

We perform in 73 hours.

The beginning of the end, Part Deux

Monday begins the last week of Romeo & Juliet.

This last week was really intense. Between starting the week with our three most physical classes all on the same day, a heat wave, smoke from the fires around here, and the emotional stress of the process taking its toll on several people (a set from which I do not exclude myself), it has been exhausting. But between an incredible, dedicated cast and our incredible, dedicated director, I know it's all going to be worth it. Just as long as we knock off those extra fifteen or so minutes of gaps.

The cast is meeting tomorrow to decorate masks, run lines, and watch Slings & Arrows.

Only in the Bay Area...

...can you get a copy of the Baghavad Gita from a random passerby.

...can you walk into a candy store covered in blood with "ninjas" as your only explanation.

...and have the guy running the store follow you out and say, "Pirates are better!"