Shakespeare in the Woods

The homeschool Shakespeare group wrapped up its second year this weekend with three performances of Twelfth Night. The Friday night performance was in a theater on campus, and the Saturday and Sunday matinees were at a thing called Faerie Fest (think Renaissance Fair with lots of wings and a bigger dose of fantasy).

As was the case last year, the Shakespeare class/group has been a wonderful experience, for both George and me. It's homeschooling at its best, in a way. It felt like being part of a really wonderful school--well, actually, better than that. People worry that homeschoolers don't get enough opportunity for socialization, but the kind of community and socialization that developed over the course of the last several months with the Shakespeare group was probably better than anything I've ever been part of in a school setting, as either a student or a parent.

Since sometime in March, 31 kids and their parents met every Monday for about 3 hours (and occasionally on Fridays as well). The leaders of the group are the minister from the local Unitarian church and his wife, and they are extraordinary. The first few sessions were dedicated to various acting games, which served not only to loosen the kids up and get them really into the spirit of acting, but also to give Douglas (the director) an idea of the kids' levels of acting ability, for the purposes of casting. The activities ranged from improv with or without props to saying various lines with different emotions. Once the play was cast, the weekly sessions obviously focused more on rehearsals, but until the last month or so there was always a little time left at the end for more acting games, which the kids just loved.

The parents at first mostly just watched (although sometimes we participated in some of the games, too), but as time went by people helped out as they were able with costumes and sets or with running lines with kids whose scenes weren't being rehearsed right then with the director. As the months went by, I found myself becoming closer with several of the parents, but also with many of the kids. I have to say, I really love these kids! And I really cherish having had the opportunity to spend time with them, and to see them grow as actors and as people. And once Ben was born, it was so wonderful to see the kids respond to him. They were fascinated by and adored him, and would always ask to hold him and would sometimes even help me change him. It was so very sweet.

One experience that had nothing to do with the production really stands out to me as typifying the beauty of the community of the group. The Unitarian church has a labyrinth in the yard, and after rehearsal one day one of the kids asked me if I'd use the timer on my cell phone to time her as she ran through it. When a couple of other kids saw what we were doing, they asked if they could do it too, and before long there was a line of at least 10 kids who wanted to run through the labyrinth and be timed. I have to admit that part of me was just a little nervous--while a few of the kids are active in competitive sports, many are not, and I just wasn't sure how they'd handle this kind of direct competition. (Maybe I've internalized some fears about homeschooled kids!) Plus, some of the kids are a lot younger, and I thought maybe they'd get their feelings hurt if they didn't do as well. I needn't have worried! The kids all stuck around after their turns not just to see if anyone would beat their time, but also to cheer each other on with great gusto. You could really feel them pulling for each other, as if they were all on a team together. Which I guess they sort of are! I found the whole thing to be both touching and great fun.

The play took a little longer to come together this year than last, probably because it was significantly longer and also a bit more complex, with more characters with speaking parts, and some longer scenes with lots of entrances and exits and such. But eventually it did come together, of course, and despite the occasional rough spot we parents were all bursting with pride on performance night.

George did an awesome job (my biased and unbiased opinion), making the most of his minor role despite his disappointment in not getting a lead this time around. At least he didn't have to play a lover again, which was what he very much wanted to avoid:-)

I hope Douglas and Sidra will be up for doing this again next year!

A whole bunch of pictures... starting with one of the cast party, held at our house. Look, actual homeschool socialization in action ;-)

George as Fabian, the gardener:

Tending the tree he's about to hide behind with Sir Andrew:

Watching as Malvolio reads the fake love letter they have planted for him...















The whole cast, at the end of the production on campus:








The next day, at the entrance to the Faerie Festival
















Fabian, pushing a very reluctant Sir Andrew to fight with an equally reluctant Cesario
Fabian, Sir Toby, and Sir Andrew discuss their shenanigans


The final scene, when all is revealed:



































In between scenes, Baby Ben is adored....







My number 1 helper, pretty-in-pink stepdaughter Lindsey











Hamming it up after the performance in the woods at the festival

One of the more elaborate booths at the festival:

A fairy/nymph of some sort, who came out of her tree to offer a very entertaining blessing upon Baby Ben:































Another entertaining creature...

We wrapped up day two with a trip to a nearby lake:

Growing up faster than I can really keep track of...

The other night George stayed at rehearsal by himself, because his dad was in the same building having a rehearsal for a show that he's in, and it really didn't seem like I needed to sit there as well. The plan was that if George finished first, he could either go find his dad or stay and watch the rest of his own play until his dad came to get him. George is only in the first of the three acts of the play, and hadn't yet seen the whole thing. Well, his dad's rehearsal lasted much longer, so George got to see his entire play which, as I have mentioned, is quite heavy and depressing. (Again, it's Arthur Miller's All My Sons.)

Yesterday George was talking about it, and about how heavy it was, and I told him I was really sorry that he had to see that without either of his parents there. He asked me what I meant by that, and I told him that when you see something disturbing, it can make you feel kind of lonely and sad, and it's comforting to have a parent with you. As usual, was he one step ahead of me.... "Mom, please. Were you sitting right there with me when I read the end of Hamlet? No, you were not. And I was just fine. So don't worry about it. Ok?"

Ok!

Back on Stage

The fun news: George has been cast in another university stage production (he was in one last year as well). The less fun news: as was the case last year, the theme is too mature for any of his friends to come see it!

Last year George was cast in Harold Pinter's One for the Road. It was an awful play, really! I mean, a great production, but a really grim play. George was not allowed to watch any scenes other than the ones he was in (much to his chagrin. Though I did capture it on video and promised to let him see it when he's like 30). The scenes he was in were fine, though with quite creepy undertones, because he was being sort of interviewed by a monstrous torturer who had kidnapped him and his family, but was being all pal-sy with him. Anyway, despite all that, it was a fabulous experience for him--we have a pretty good theater department here, and with a relatively small cast, he got plenty of personal attention and instruction/direction. It was starting up right when we pulled him from school and began homeschooling full-time, so it worked out well that he really had the time and energy to devote to it. I was so proud of him, as I'm sure you can imagine! He was a real pro up there, completely holding his own with the college kids. I was disappointed only that his friends couldn't come see him.

Fortunately, another opportunity came up right after that--homeschool friends of ours started a Shakespeare group/class and George was cast as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream. They worked on the show all during the spring and put it on in June in the same theater on campus where the Harold Pinter play took place, and then again outdoors at a local Fairie Festival. Lysander is a great part, and George played it very well, if quite reluctantly--he was highly embarrassed to be playing a "lover"! He has plenty of friends that are girls, but did not like having to be lovey-dovey with a girl on stage (no matter that the girl in question was/is *totally* adorable and sweet, IMO)....

I'm really happy that the Shakespeare class is happening again this year; the play will be Twelfth Night. We're still waiting for casting. George was so eager *not* to play a lover that he actually asked if he could have the lead, who happens to be a girl. A girl who is pretending to be a boy for almost the entire play, and who does end up in love at the end but it's with a boy, so he wouldn't have had to walk off the stage arm-in-arm or holding hands with a girl. I find it pretty amusing that he'd rather play a girl than pretend to be in love with one, but ok! In any case, alas, it was not to be; there are more girls than boys in the group this year, so they really can't spare a girl's part for a boy. Anyway, we should find out Monday what part he ends up with.

In the meantime, as I mentioned, he's been cast in another play on campus--Arthur Miller's All My Sons. Not to be at all confused with the sit-com My Three Sons, which I watched a lot as a kid. No. Not at all. Once again, George's scenes are harmless, but the overall theme is definitely not too kid-friendly, ending as it does with the suicide of the oldest son and the father.

Why can't he be cast in The Sound of Music, or Mary Poppins, or something?!

Still, I'm not complaining! He's thrilled to be in the show, and I'm pretty thrilled myself that he's getting another opportunity like this. His first rehearsal was last night and he did *great*. I was so proud of him up there. And today we went to the costume shop to get him fitted, which turned out to be lots of fun because in one of his scenes he gets to wear a cowboy get-up which includes a holster and gun:




I had to practically drag him out of there; he was having such a blast (as you can probably tell from the pictures).

I think I forgot to mention that opening night of this play is on the earliest of my possible/shifting due dates, by the way, so I might not even get to see him in it. (Though of course I'll be at many of the rehearsals.) And as I said, none of his friends can come...

But at least there's no love-interest for his character!

Cookies and Carols, Pictures and Part 2

Pictures from the Cookies and Carols party last week... Doesn't the man cave look awesome with a Christmas tree?

We didn't get a shot of all the kids together, since several were on the other side of the pool (/cookie) table. But we actually had a great turnout.

Somehow this photo did not capture George's boundless enthusiasm for the afternoon. (He really did love it!)

Serious homeschool socializing :-)

And then, yesterday, we got together to do it again, at a local nursing home.... The audience members who managed to stay awake seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, and several of them even sang along.

Maria Von Trapp would've been proud, right?!

George and pal Christopher.

The whole thing was so much fun--we're planning a Beatles sing-and-play-along for sometime in the spring.

Cookies and Carols

Every December for the past several years I have brought my guitar into George's classroom (last December he was still attending the Montessori school part time) and have played/sung Christmas carols with him and his classmates. When the holiday season rolled around again this year and I thought about that, at first I was a tiny bit disappointed not to have a classroom to visit for this activity, but it pretty quickly dawned on me that we hardly needed a classroom to do it! So I invited the homeschool group over to our house for an afternoon of cookies and carols.

We haven't been going to playgroup this fall because of my teaching schedule, so I haven't been socializing as much with the group in recent months, and a little part of me was worried that I might feel kind of awkward. I needn't have worried. Right off the bat I was having so much fun! At first we all just hung out (in our attic-turned-awesome-man cave/family room, created almost a year ago when my husband moved in), eating cookies and snacks and chatting, while the kids were running around the house (note to self: the next time we're having so many kids over, remember to prep George on not getting everyone riled up into a chasing game!). When I announced that it was time for carols, several of the kids (most of all George) were clearly a little disappointed, and didn't look like they'd actually come over and join us for it, but I went ahead anyway. By the time we were halfway through the opening chorus of the first song, Jingle Bells, all the kids were happily sitting and enthusiastically joining in.

It went so well that we decided to take the show on the road and sing at a local nursing home next week. Plus, several of the moms suggested we get together for sing-alongs (and have any kids who play instruments bring them and join in) several times a year.

It was so much fun, and it made me so very happy. And it was a great reminder that we don't need no stinkin' school to do pretty much all of the things we want to do :-)

Photos!

Ok, clearly I need to do a Blogger tutorial to learn how to arrange these photos better, but since it has taken me a month to get the photos up here in the first place, who knows how long it'll take me to get around to the tutorial...

The CTY Awards Ceremony at Siena College, held last month

And a little further down is George's recorder concert, the following day; it was the third thing I was proud of him for but didn't get around to writing about in my Proud Mama post. Held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation... where, incidentally, his recorder concert for his school-that-closed was held (and also where one of the schools we set up in the aftermath held classes for the 4 days it lasted!). This concert in some ways felt like "coming home", because it reminded me that not everything that we loved about that school had vanished from our lives. Adding to this sense was the fact that several of the kids from that school participated in the concert (they, like George, have continued to take lessons with the recorder teacher from the school). Plus, many of George's new homeschool friends were there, so it was a nice union of past and present for me, and probably for him, too. It was part of a life-goes-on-in-many-wonderful-ways closure that felt kind of therapeutic, and that I knew I would not get from attending the hearing about the school that was held yesterday.

George's favorite part of the concert: running around outside in the labyrinth afterwards, with old and new friends.

I have many, many more pictures to post, but I'm running out of stamina and will have to do it later!