Kicking It Off With the Bard!

This blog has been a long time in coming. I've thought about it, written entries in my head and alternately thought that I had something to share, nothing to share and no time to do it. Finally though, I figured, why not! Let's enter right in, shall we?

 Right now we are ready for the kids' Shakespeare theater group's production of The Merchant of Venice to have its' first show. Tomorrow night, Cast A will hit the stage with my guys performing in their secondary roles. They have worked for months and days and hours and minutes for this and are ready to roll. I can honestly think of no better way for Shakespeare to be learned and enjoyed than by kids studying it and performing it. It's theater...not meant to be read, but meant to be performed and witnessed. The great thing about this group is that it's not an abridged "kid-version," it's the real deal with very few cuts.

The Company that they perform with is made up of about 40 homeschooled kids from 8-18 and directed and run by parents who do theater with passion and skill. As a mom with a full-time job, my work with the group is minimal, coming in toward the end to do a little hand-sewing as needed, helping with refreshments and clean up. The other moms who are directing, sewing costumes, assistant directing, producing, coaching and more are a fabulous team who have knocked themselves out to get it done. It shows and the kids work shows in their understanding of the script, the performance and theater craft. I can hardly wait for them to get this puppy on the boards. Saturday night our kids will perform their Cast 1 main roles as Antonio, Salerino and Gratiano. Curly Boy is The Merchant of Venice himself...and the "Evil One". His best buddy is Shylock. This will be an interesting performance. Next weekend Cast A will perform on Friday night and Cast 1 will perform on Saturday night. 2 performances for each cast. They will knock'em out and have a blast doing it!

The Bard Lives!