And so it ends...

"Trifles Light as Air" is now over, and though it ended several weeks ago, I still feel that familiar sense of loss that I have always felt after a show, only this time it is lingering and more intense than ever before. We had, I dare say, our best year to date; our cast was closer than ever before and worked extremely well together, and the creativity that came out of these kids was astounding. They taught me that that they can not only handle more Shakespearean language, but handle it with ease, humor, and convincing emotion. I'm grateful to them for showing me that, because it will make all future plays that much more fun to write. The more Shakespeare the better, as far as I'm concerned.
I'm only beginning to toy with ideas for next year's play. I'm thinking "King Lear," but I'm not yet sure how to present it as comedy. It might be interesting to have two sides to the story: what really happens, and what could have happened had the characters made better choices. I could do the same with "Romeo and Juliet" although I don't know how I would get around the teen suicide issue. That may or may not be a theme I can get away with.
So though I'm still sad about the end of "Trifles" I have much to do and much Shakespeare to look forward to. I'll be teaching my Shakespeare class at the Aurora Fox again this school year, and I'm still trying to grow the Shakespeare Youth Project. On October 9th of this year, I am performing both "Shakespeare's Fools" and "Shakespeare's Scoundrels" for an audience of whoever will come (I'm inviting everyone I know) for a couple reasons: 1) for the practice, since I haven't performed either show in over a year and a half, 2) so that students who come can go to their teachers and tell them about it and hand them a flyer, and 3) to get it professionally video recorded to put portions on my website. I'm really hoping that it helps my career as I'm investing a bit of money and a ton of time in it. I want so badly to be known throughout the Denver Public schools and other districts in Colorado and I simply have no idea how to get known. The avenues I've tried so far have failed.
So here's to a great summer, and many more great Shakespearean adventures to come!