Pressure's On

Time to get serious about getting to work, so I will only take a minute today to update the blog and get into writing mode. Summer camp sign-up has begun and many of my long-time students have contacted me saying they are enrolled, or will be in the near future. I'm still contemplating the idea of using more of Shakespeare's original language in this play than I have in the past. One of the devices I used in my first play "Where the Wild Thyme Blows" (based on "Midsummer")was that I'd have a character say a line right out of the original play and then another character would say "what does that mean?" and the first character would repeat the line in a modern version. It worked for that play, but I'm not sure I want to do it again. I want the language to speak for itself. Last year, our cast consisted of something like 19 kids who had been with me for at least one previous year. I always have one day in the first week of camp that we call "Shakespeare Day" when we spend the day exploring his language and talking about how to act Shakespeare. Perhaps this year I can expand "Shakespeare Day" to really help them get a handle on the "how" of Shakespeare. Perhaps with a little extra attention and with most of the cast already knowing a thing or two, this just may be do-able.

Right. On to playwriting.