More Midsummer!

Wonder what A Midsummer Night's Dream is all about?
The cast of Midsummer explains the plot most lucidly and eloquently in this trailer!


(NB: I have about 5 other posts started-all unrelated to Midsummer, I promise! :D But our director has charged us with the task to be as obnoxious and pushy marketers as we can in these next couple of weeks. So, in my defense I'm simply being an obedient actor and bugging you guys as well as I can. :) )

Drums, Faeries, & Magic

*drumroll*

Here is a teaser trailer for the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I've been rehearsing for!! They "premiered" it for us tonight at rehearsal, and then asked us to send it out to everyone we knew. Actually, they asked us to post it on our Facebook pages, but since I've sworn off of Facebook until I finish all my schoolwork... ... ...

I've decided to share it with ya'll!

(it looks prettier full-screen, so for optimal viewing satisfaction, we recommend full-screen)

The drum circle you see in the trailer is how we begin and end the show. It's wild, adrenaline-filled, and and absolutely magical.
And now you see what I've been sacrificing pie night for. :)

April 20th, 1999

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. My dear friend and columbinus cast-mate called me late last night, after having spent the whole day holding back tears, and then finally being overwhelmed by them. She kept saying: "Why am I feeling like this? Why can't I let this go?"



There are so many people whose lives have been completely changed by the events that took place this day. And I feel disrespecful, in a way, saying that my own life has been changed by this day as well. I haven't lost a child, a friend, or a sibling. I haven't lived through blood-spattered halls and the sounds of gunshots, jeers, moans and screams. The pain all those people felt is something almost sacred, that I can't presume to even begin to understand or fathom. Their grief is something I can never feel.



But, without a doubt, Columbine has changed my life. columbinus was a show that changed me. I've been immersed in this story for over three months, and closing the show felt like coming up out of the water for a giant, refreshing breath of air. I was able to let go of the burden of the story; yet there's no way I can let go of the story itself. And I shouldn't.



There was one rehearsal, towards the beginning to the process, which was really difficult for me, and I broke down afterwards. We hadn't even started dealing with the Act II Columbine story, but I had just finished reading Columbine, by Dave Cullen (one of the reporters who covered the shootings), and I was so weighed down by the story. After rehearsal, I spent a good hour and a half talking with our awesome director and stage manager, and trying to find words to describe the feelings of grief that overwhelmed me. Then, on my way home, I stopped by the adoration chapel, and kneeling in the back, I looked up at the Eucharist. I realized I was sitting in front of the one person who had never let that story go; and He was still feeling the pain, the sorrow and the grief as acutely as He did that very day. As much as I was grieving for those 15 people, and as much as I loved them; He loved them infinitely more, and was grieving for what took place on April 20th. I realized that I could share all that sorrow with Him; He understood perfectly what I was feeling.
As a Littleton parent said: "There's no such thing as closure; they're our kids and we don't want to put them behind us." We don't always have to carry the burden of the story, but we can never let it go. Every single person deserves to have their story told-and never forgotten. It's the least we can do to try to right the wrong that was done to them.




There's a beauty and an awe in knowing there's a whole communion of people whose lives have also been touched by these events-who wake up on April 20th, knowing why this day is different from all other days. And now I'm a part of that connection.
We ARE Columbine.



We began columbinus in winter. We ended it in spring. Winter sometimes seems as though it will go on forever-we forget what it feels like to walk outside without freezing to death; feels like when the sun shines and the birds sing. By March, we begin to wonder if we'll ever see the spring. But spring always comes. Winter cannot last forever. Spring always comes.

That's the hope.





"We die many times and experience many forms of grief; but love...it never fails. "

"There are no words to convey how sorry we are for the pain that has been brought upon the community as a result of our son's actions. The pain of others compounds our own as we struggle to live a life without the son we cherished. In the reality of the Columbine tragedy and its aftermath, we look with the rest of the world to understand how such a thing could happen.
[...] We envision a time when circumstances will allow us to join with those who share our desire to understand. In the meantime, we again express our profound condolences to those whose lives have been so tragically altered. We look forward to a day when all of our pain is replaced by peace and acceptance."
~The Klebold family -- 4-15-2000



"Ever since that day we've been obsessed with moving on or getting back...so we've gone to gun control, the music, computer games, the school, the police, the parents...looking for someone to blame. But we always find ourselves back where we started asking the same question...

Why?"

I did that whole open-up-the-Bible-to-any-random-page-and-read-the-first-verse-you see-thing today, and received this little gift from God:


But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.


In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be an affliction,


and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,



their hope is full of immortality.(Wisdom 3:1-5)

Lessons from The Verge

"I've seen the future and it is slang."--Fanny, On the Verge

Recently, I read a thoroughly excellent play entitled "On the Verge." (see picture). Basic premise: three Victorian explorer women set out to explore "Terra Incognita," and end up travelling into the future. Highly recommended. It made me realize how many fantastic, delicious words ther are in the English language. There's a whole treasure trove of words out there just begging to be used!

Resolution #1: Polish up vocabulary.

In contrast, the show I just finished working on, columbinus, had a different sort of vocabulary. It was gritty and realistic and very rough, which was perfectly fitting for the show. The constant barrage of dirty words made me realize how pointless foul language is. Its only point is to shock and seek attention. But after you've been bombarded with those words thousands of times, they loose their power. But words like: incandescent, sunset, creamy, cerulean, ebullient, effervescent, melifluous, snowfall, sparkle, celestial, vibrant, beauty, quintessence, and love will always radiate beauty and meaning. That's what language is supposed to be.


Also, I was surprised by how much I identified with the character Mary (there are three main characters-Fanny, Mary, and Alexandra). Throughout the play, I never felt like I had a good sense of who Mary was, until the end. Half-way through the play, the women settle down in the 1950's. But Mary wants to travel on, she wants to find more and more adventures---"I have such a yearning for the future! It is boundless!" I love that spirit of adventure-it reminds me of that Chesterton quote: "An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered, an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered."

Resolution #2: Look on life as an adventure.


Finally, one of the big debates that exists in the play is whether or not the women should wear trousers. (Trousers! Shocked gasp.) Alexandra is all for it, Fanny is dead set against it, and Mary says: "The civilizing mission of Woman is to reduce the amount of masculinity in the world. Not add to it by wearing trousers." I would argue with Mary that we're not supposed to reduce the amount of masculinity, per se, but rather counter it with an equal amount of femininity. These three women are strong, gracious, and playful. Despite their idiosyncratic flaws, they're all admirable literary characters.

Resolution #3: Be a part of "On the Verge" someday, somehow, somwhere.

Craziest Day of My Life!

And that's saying something!

So, this morning I was doing my physics like the industrious student that I am,

*looks angelic*

when my mother came down and handed me the phone. It was the stage manager for Alice in Wonderland. She told me: "So...[the girl who plays the Caterpillar/Alice's Sister (who I'm understudying)] isn't feeling well today. They're going to try to get her better before tonight's show, but I just wanted to make sure you were prepared to go on." I was pretty much in a state of shock at that point, so I murmured my "Okays" "Mhhhmmms" and "Of courses" without thinking. As soon as I hung up, I recalled that this was the one night that I had a conflict with the show!!! I had to go to work!

*smacks head*

So, I called the SM back immediately, and told her I had to work(I'd told them about the conflict when I agreed to understudy, so that was all good). But, I promised I would contact work and see if there was any way possible to get my shift covered. I was pretty darn sure the answer would be no. They had told us at a meeting that we wouldn't be able to find subs for the Halloween event-they were short-staffed as it was.

Soooooo....yeah....

I finally got a hold of work, and instead of saying: "Sorry, NO." like I expected her to, my boss said: "Welllllll, I'll see what we can do..." We tried to work stuff out, but we couldn't find anyone who wasn't working that night who could cover for me. Eventually, I said: " You know what? It's okay. I'll just come on in to work as normal." So, I called the stage manager-she was completely understanding, but I could tell she was very, ridiculously, horribly stressed. I felt terrible, but I went off to work.

In the car, my cell phone rang-it was my work. They had decided to let me off, so I'd be able to do the show! So, I went in for the first hour and a half of my shift, then rushed off to do Alice. I've never heard anyone sound as relieved as that stage manager did when I called her to tell her the news!

So, then there was the small task of memorizing lines. Eep. The thing is, I only learned about a week ago that I was understudying this show. And the first and only time I've seen the show was on Tuesday. So, in the car, in between driving and practicing my lines, I was praying my head off. Today was one of those days that I totally felt that God had to be in control. Because I for sure wasn't.

Somehow, thanks to the wonderful, amazing cast, I made it through the show. I'm sure my guardian angel was having the time of his life helping me out! It was just crazy. There was this moment during the preshow when I was sitting on the stage reading a book, and I realized-this was it. This wasn't just pretend. I couldn't put the show on time-out, and run check my script really quick. This was the real deal, and I somehow had to get through the whole thing, no matter how badly I goofed things up. Thankfully, I didn't goof things up too horribly. It was crazy, wild and insane, but somehow God just guided me through it.

I think these are the days that I live for. This is why I love theatre-it's messy and imperfect and ridiculous, but somehow it all works out, and something beautiful is created. It's kind of like life-somehow God makes a work of art out of our confusing, lovely, and often crazy lives. We just have to trust Him and be not afraid.

Thespianism Unleashed

Well, as college settles into the dull rhythms of ordinary life (read, I no longer need a schedule to find my next class), I have auditioned for a series of one act plays to be performed on campus. Callbacks were this evening, and the cast list goes up tomorrow. Sometime. Until then, I will be checking the bulletin board and my box approximately every 15 minutes when I'm not in class.

And then I will (hopefully) have lines to memorize in addition to all that reading. And the bug project (due next Monday). And our Algebra exam on the 28. And we haven't even had our paper assigned for seminar yet. Stress much! But very fun. Weekends are essential for college survival. Coffee, too. Lots and lots of lovely coffee....

Next semester, a group of students will also be putting on a performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (which happens to be one of my favoritest). If I have the time and energy, I plan on auditioning for it as well.

The wonders, terrors, and glories of college life are just beginning!