"Man of the Theater"

I've always liked this image for some twisted reason. In a kinky way I like the bizarre way my body looks with the ace bandage crisscrossing my chest and changing my shape. It was taken by Jordi Goodman during Romeo and Juliet tech week, when I was playing Paris. Part of my pre-show ritual when playing men (which is often for me) is to walk around in just the ace bandage I use to bind down my breasts. It's hard to explain exactly what this does for me, but I guess it's a weird way of acknowledging my femininity and then dismissing it in order to fully take on the male persona I will be playing. For me, I think it's the exposed midriff contrasting with the rest of my appearence. I feel like my midriff is one of the most attractive parts of my body, so when it's exposed I feel like my normal feminine self. But when I'm bound up it's like I've put on a different skin, taken on a different shape, a male one that I want to settle into before I dress it in its costume. Though in my regular life I feel naturally traditionally feminine in most ways, and am pretty secure in that notion, I like sometimes stepping into masculine headspace. This is part of the way I transition into feeling more manly. A lot of girls can't play men because they don't like the implication that they can be unfeminine enough to make a believable man, but maybe this ritual is how I avoid that. You can see my sexy girl belly is still there, but the rest of me is different, reformed into something almost like a man.

There's something kinky about this image, something transgressive that appeals to me. I am fascinated by how flat I look here, strong flat stomach muscles beneath a flat bound-up chest, going down into hips flattened by the cut of my slacks. I also like the suggestion of constraint; not only is my chest bound, even the way I hold myself looks tightly contained and carefully controlled. I remember when I was in Love's Labor's Lost how fixated some of my castmates were on how uncomfortable it must have been; some seemed even slightly creeped out by it. To some apparently this is something kind of twisted. But to me, it's part of changing how I feel in order to feel like the different thing I'm trying to become. Maybe I like this image because of how it shows that process, of becoming that other thing. Maybe I like how different I look from how I normally see myself; I've always enjoyed becoming someone totally different from me. Or maybe it's that very juxtaposition I mentioned before, of constrained, reshaped torso and squared-off man trousers that I put on as markers of masculinity with my beloved midriff that I associate so strongly with appealing femininity. There's some complicated weirdness going on here, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is that appeals so much to me, but all I'm sure of is that something here I find very, very cool. Just out of curiosity, do I look at all masculine to anyone else's eye? Or do I just look like a skinny girl with an ace bandage around her chest?

I call this image "Man of the Theater." I like the pun of the title. I would be a man of the theater if I were a man, since I participate in the making of it. But also, I'm not really a man, so my being a man IS theater. And since I'm not really a man, it's only through the theater that I can be a man at all.

Perhaps sometime, if someone with any facility with a camera wants to, I'd like to reshoot this image a little more deliberately. Maybe do a series of myself in man pants, with my hair slicked, and my breasts flattened out by an ace bandage, where I actively try to look as masculine as possible that way. It might make an interesting study, as I'm so fascinated by the image it produces.

The lean-in, roles reversed!

So, as I mentioned, thefarowl* came dressed to my party adorably attired in masculine costume in a black pinstripe suit with a fedora. Some fun photographs we were taking inspired me to get one shot in particular in order to create this contrast:

The first picture is of me as Paris, creepily doing the lean-in on Caitlin as Juliet. This second picture reverses our roles. The creepery-ness has come full circle. :-)

Musing on planning curtain call

One of my favorite small pleasures that comes with directing is getting to put together the curtain call. It's akin to a little piece of decadent candy for me; small, not terribly important, but immensely delicious and satisfying. Curtain call exists pretty much solely as a reward for the actors, their moment to be acknowledged for their hard work. I also like using it as a way of deconstructing the relationships in the show, composing it in such a way as to display to the sharp-eyed audience member how the character relate to the plot and to each other. And while I guess I put entirely too much thought into it, but as I said, doing it just so gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Here is my theory of how curtain calls are best organized. There are two factors to consider, order and grouping. Order is the procession in which the actors appear, with the most important characters emerging later than the others. As an actor, I've always found it's really an honor to emerging in the last three waves of bows, with the coveted final one the most ego-boosting of all. If (n) is the number of waves of bowing, the most significant characters tend to appear in waves (n), (n-1), and (n-2). I firmly believe that the most significant deciding factor on where to place people is how much influence they have over the course of the plot. Role size I do feel is a factor to consider, but I find it much less important than plot significance. I would rather a smaller character come out later if they matter more to the story-- or if they are a particularly notable part, like Mercutio or Palamon --than strictly gauge by how many lines they have, or by how much time they spend onstage.

Groupings, as in, what combination of people come out at what time, I feel should be determined by character-relatedness, the similarity of the service they provide to the plot. Obviously characters who feature together and are roughly the same size parts should come out to bow together. But that also means that if they're doing the same kind of thing for the story, even if they don't interact much onstage, grouping them together makes sense. For example, if there are two parallel figures who both provide support to the main characters but don't deal much with each other, I like to have them come out together. Opposites-- such as Edgar and Edmond in Lear-- also make sense.

Let's use the curtain call of Romeo and Juliet as an example. I thought having Frances as Tybalt and myself as Paris come out together and fairly early made sense. Even though our characters don't have much to do with each other onstage, we served the same plot purpose-- immediate antagonism --and our roles were about the same size. By contrast, I felt like instead of having the Nurse come out alone in position (n-1) and Friar Lawrence come out alone at (n-3), they should have both come out together at (n-1)-- again, they had the same plot purpose of facilitating the efforts of the two leads, and had about the same time spent onstage. Sacrificing the solo bow I believe would have been worth both of them moved up to acknowledge their significance by the order.

The solo bow is a bit tricky. Normally I only give it to the most important characters (as in, the primary support comes out at wave (n-1) alone, and then the lead comes out at position (n) alone) but it's also a way to acknowledge the uniqueness of a supporting role. I find it appropriate for the fan favorite in a show, such as Palamon in To Think of Nothing, to get a moment for the audience to express their particular appreciation. Sometimes a compromise can be made status-wise by having certain character come out earlier, but alone. The solo bow is kind of an honor, so sometimes you can balance acknowledgement of two different groups' significance by having the earlier wave contain just one person bowing by himself, and the later wave come out with a group. This is what I did with Horatio; he appeared earlier in the order than Laertes and Ophelia, but he got the honor of bowing by himself. And sometimes you just have a character who doesn't go with anyone else in the show, and simply doesn't make sense in any grouping with anyone else.

For HTP, I designed the curtain call for both of the shows I directed, plus King Lear. I only sort of remember what I did with Lear; anyone who wants to remind me is welcome. It was remarkably difficult to design a curtain call for To Think of Nothing because everybody was pretty much just as important to the piece as everyone else. Hell, everyone being constructs of Cassander's brain, everyone literally IS the main character! So I couldn't use my normal formula there. What I settled on was that it would reflect the depth to which each character penetrated Cassander's thoughts. Which meant that even though Damon and Selene are respectively the second- and third-largest parts in the show (at least by line count), I decided they should be the first to come out.

As a side note, I have always been a fan of the "call out"-- when the actor or actors who came out in the previous wave remain just slightly to the side of center stage and make a gesture to "call out" the next wave and sort of present them to the audience as they take their bow. I have used it in the three prior HTP curtain calls I organized, specifically with the last two waves to emerge, with Claudius calling out Hamlet, Cordelia calling out Lear, and Andromeda calling out Cassander. I like it as a concept because it acknowledges the way actors and characters need each other for their plots to be interesting and their performances to be strong. It highlights the fact that Claudius and Hamlet, for example, need each other for the conflict to be meaningful, and the way Frances and Jared used each other's performance to make their own better. The call out allows Claudius to show his gratitude to Hamlet for that, and keeping Claudius present during Hamlet's bow acknowledges his own contribution. It's a moment where the actors actually get to demonstrate out of character, "And we thank each other for working together." I have never actually used it except between solo bows for the last two characters, as a sort of tribute to the lead and to the primary support, but I can imagine other contexts for it as well. Perhaps between a group that is strongly connected to another group, but who's contribution to the show as a whole is of a different nature.

Maybe I am unnecessary overcomplicating things, but I really enjoy thinking about this stuff. It's fun for me. :-)

Amazing opening night





Caesar opened last night, and I must say, it was fantastic, even better than I thought it was going to be. The energy was up, the actors increased their dynamic movement to fill the stage and make the best use of the set, the amount of character-building stage business went up. While other shows may have had standout performances, the acting was consistently better across the board than any Shakespeare we've done before it. The technical aspects came together gorgeously, looking slick, professional, and painstaking. This was definitely one of the best mainstage shows Hold Thy Peace has put on to date. Lenny and Jenna, the directors of this excellent piece, should be incredibly proud.

Brenda conveys the intensity of an obsessive personality with a fascinating combination of fire and steel. She cuts a tall, square, lean figure in her suit and her military uniform, plotting, imposing, inexorable. My guts twist at the thought that I'll probably never get a chance to direct her myself. She perfectly accents Frances, lovely Frances, who is so talented I get lost in it. Her need to cogitate and weigh contrasts brilliantly with Brenda's constant burning surety. I also admire her for balancing Brutus's quiet cerebralness with a dynamic ponderousness that emphasizes the character's ponderousness without divorcing from the physical performance. I want to see her play every role in all of Shakespeare, because I believe she could do it all, and I want to bear witness to it.

Steph confirms my theory that when good actors are required to stretch, it improves them and helps them to grow. Making the role of Mark Antony a woman, keeping the gender identity while adapting it to fit an atypical societal position, is not an easy job, and not really one Steph has had to attempt before. Among all the fantastic performances in the show, she is the standout, and I believe it is because she was challaneged to create a part outside of her typical repetoire. Her "Friends, Romans, countrymen," speech got applause when it only otherwise occurred at act breaks.

  

Nati is very interesting to me. He is clearly talented and has fantastic instincts-- of everyone, his stage business I found the most genuine and the most compelling. I could see someone with his repetoire being inclined to over-acting, but I thought he balanced it well last night, keeping busy and interesting and active without being too distracting. Caitlin's performance is so complex. She has a remarkable ability to convey layers of feeling beneath the words-- you get no just what she's saying, but what's going on behind her eyes a the same time, which is a really difficult thing. And I have been impressed by April's progression. She was really good as Regan, but in playing the Nurse and having the opportunity to play a character requiring a lot of meta-commentary by the actor (must understand the dramatic function of the part to the play, has many different notes to hit, has many levels to hit, which levels and which notes are appropriate when, et cetera) I think she grew much more savvy about how to go approach roles. She auditioned for Caesar with a monologue of the Nurse, which though she had performed on stage, she directed herself to clean up her performance to a point of making it more honest and less over-the-top while still keeping it funny. It was one of the best-prepared auditions I've ever seen. Her portrayal of Decius demonstrated how much more sophisticated and nuanced her acting, and her approach to roles, are getting.

 

I enjoy the double casting of Julius Caesar and Octavian-- I should, it was my suggestion. ;-) I like it because I find actors give stronger performances when they are double-cast meaningfully, which this is. Octavian was the grand-nephew of Caesar, so you get family resemblance, and there is now some continuity between the man that became Rome's first dictator and his heir who became its first emperor. Also, it gives Plesser a chance to stretch. I thought he did a very good job of differentiating the two, making Caesar an arrogant, stage-filling presence and Octavian stern, calculating general planning to win a war and rebuild a government.

The other notable thing about the evening is that Charlotte, wanting to do something creative while killing time before the show, painted a design on my back. It is gothy and gorgeous, kind of an abstract bat wing design. There should be pictures of it up shortly. She is incredibly talented, and I am so flattered to have been able to be a canvas for her. Sadly in sleep I smeared it somewhat, but she can paint a new one on me anytime. :-) I shall be attending again tonight, after which photo call will happen for sure. I am ready and excited. Then, I believe, there will probably be the traditional pilgrimage to IHOP.

All I can say now is "Hail, Caesar!"



A thought on acting that occurred to me

In both theater and larping, I would like to be thought of as a workhorse actor. By this I mean the kind of actor that you can trust with a difficult, particular, or demanding part to get into it, make something of it, and give it their all. I want people casting me to think "I can trust Phoebe with this part." Most recently I was going for that in Romeo and Juliet, and while I don't think the relationship I was aiming for was quite established, I do feel like I got my part based on my efforts to cultivate that attitude. Paris needed an actor who was going to keep the role sympathetic, would keep from taking too much of the spotlight, and (if female) be willing to play the character as a man. That meant I had to be willing to support other actors more than own the stage myself, and I definitely couldn't have hangups about subverting my femininity for the role. That's just one example, but it's a pretty good one. I don't want people worrying that I'll revert to my default acting settings if they give me a part that's outside my typical range. I don't want people thinking that there's something I "can't" do onstage. I want them to feel like if they have a part with something challenging to it that they need to trust to someone who'll get the job done, they can turn to me. This goes for larps as well as plays. Though I worry sometimes by saying this I'm asking to get stuck with thin characters, I do want GMs thinking that I will be able to handle the parts they're worried won't play well unless a strong enough larper to move them is cast in those roles.

As a director and a GM, I know I've commented plenty of times about people who can do this but can't do that, about people who can be counted on to do something in particular even if it's not what is being asked, about players' and actors' limitations and bad habits. I want to be the actor and larper who is seen to have neither. Even if I may not be the best, I want to be seen as one who will take the demands of the role that is given and find the way to get them done.

R+J opening

At last, after probably the most difficult and problematic build I have ever been involved with, we finished with the Romeo and Juliet set, and have had our opening night. I am absolutely exhausted-- I was there almsot twelve hours a day the last three days. But the show went off well, and I was pleased and proud of everyone; our audience even included bronzite, which made me happy. My parents and Jared's are coming tonight, so let's hope we do even better. I'm particularly proud of Xavier, our Romeo, who like Jared who came before him went out for a show having never acted before in his freshman year, got the lead, and carried a show his first time out. Also, Jonathan Plesser gets better with every show-- it's really got me interested in him as an actor. This cast actually did something impressive in that that even with as little rehearsal time as we had, they were ready at the start of tech week and even adapted to playing on the set almost immediately. I plan on spending some time with my mom and dad this afternoon, having an early dinner, and then finding my way over to the theater by call time.

Day two of tech

Day two of build in Shapiro Theater has come and gone. After a quick lunch with Jared at two o'clock yesterday I went over to the theater to see if there was anything to be done, and screwed a few things together and helped a little to figure out how to make the stairs. Honestly it feels like we're about a day behind, and I just can't stay till four in the morning now, but we've got basically all the pieces constructed. When I left they needed painting, and the staircase had to be finished and put together. I'm planning on going in early because I can't stay late at around three o'clock this afternoon to see if I can't contribute more then.

I look rough. I've not been sleeping well, as is typical of tech week, and the work has really taken a toll on my skin. My hands feel like sandpaper, and with all the concentration on build and using the tools right I've taken to biting my lip, leaving it dry and torn up. The weather right now isn't helping with this. I think when I get home I'm going to take an extremely hot shower and put myself back together a little, not to mention find a nice soothing gallon of lip balm. Maybe that'll help me get back to feeling, and looking, normal.

Load-in weariness

Yesterday we had load-in for Romeo and Juliet. Drained me earlier and harder than a load-in has in a long time. For the most part I like the experience of the cast coming together to do the necessary labor to make the theater our own; there is a real sense of satisfaction that comes from working hard and seeing the results of your efforts. But the longer it goes on the more you just want to be done with it, and I was getting kind of frustrated with the inefficiency and unhelpfulness of a lot of the people involved. I know we're limited by what needs done at the moment and how many of the appropriate tools we have, but I wish a lot of people were better at looking around and just finding work for their goddamn selves. If you can ask someone what to do, do it. If you can't, find something-- pick up screws, throw away debris, clean or straighten up something. Some, like Bernie, Plesser, and Charlotte, were amazingly hard-working and useful. Others were less so, and got on my nerves.

I also left at one, significantly earlier than I've ever left a tech week rehearsal before, but which was later than I probably should have and I'd put in seven and a half hours in already. On every other Hold Thy Peace show I've ever been in, and Romeo and Juliet makes my eighth, I stayed at build as late as I was needed and didn't go home until everyone else did. The worst of these was for Lear, when I stayed till four in the morning every night of tech week and which happened to fall during a period of extreme emotional distress, leaving me so drained and overtired I wrecked my car. Never want a repeat of that. And anyway, I have to get up for a real job these days, so I can't afford to make myself that blown.

One thing that really amuses me now is that I didn't realize how smoothly the Hamlet tech week went by comparison to the typical experience of moving a show into its performance space. Anyone who's done theater can tell you that the average production is one disaster after another, and it's only by the work of dedicated people fixing those disasters that the show goes off at all, much less well. It's kind of amazing when you think about it, how many elements must come together and do their job to make a show happen, so it's only natural that something with so many moving parts that they should be hard to coordiate and prone to malfunction. I remember being convinced throughout the process of Hamlet that everything was screwed up and behind schedule, when in actuality, at least compared to most shows, our rehearsals proceeded smoothly, our tech week was relatively easy, and most of the things that went wrong were handled with a minimum of struggle. Of course, it probably helped that our set was metal painter's scaffolds with cloth drapings and some banners hung from the fly system. And that when I wanted something done right, I almost always did it myself. The good part of it was I personally controlled everything to get the quality I wanted. The bad part was, Christ, that was a lot of work.

ROMEO AND JULIET

The next week and a half promise to be intense for me. We're starting full run-throughs for Romeo and Juliet tonight, for which our call is at 6:30PM and, particularly when we move into the theater on Sunday, we go as late as we have to. I'm pretty excited to be at this point, all I need is a bit more brushing up on my lines and I think I'm good to go, so at least it'll be fun even if it'll be a lot of work. I'd better plan to bring food and things to work on during the downtime, so make the best use of spending the whole evening there. The one thing I'm concerned about is that since I'm working now and have to get up earlier than I did last semester, I won't be able to stay extremely late to get things done that still need finishing during tech week, something I've done for every previous show. Yeah, I know others can step up this time, but the reason I always did it previously is because so few others ever did. I really hope somebody else steps up this time around, 'cause I don't think I can push it.

I guess we're close enough that it's time to do the plug. And so, without further ado,

HOLD THY PEACE presents
William Shakespeare's
ROMEO AND JULIET

Directed by ELANA FRIEDLAND
Produced by TEGAN KEHOE
Stage Managed by MAC MAGRUDER and EMILY BAUM

In the Carl J. Shapiro Theater at Brandeis University
October 22nd-24th at 8PM
October 25th at 2PM

Featuring JARED HITE as Lord Capulet
and PHOEBE ROBERTS as Count Paris

Come see me kiss a girl and do my manly walk. :-)

Kissing rehearsal

Had my first kissing rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet last night. I feel like it's important to the character and scene, so I definitely want it to happen, but I confess, the idea of kissing girls creeps me out. Other people can do what they want, but when it comes to myself, I am a big sucky homophobe-baby and I'm not ashamed to admit it. So this is something I had slightly worked myself up about. Of course, when there's something I'm afraid I'm going to puss out on, I really want to do it to prove I can get it done. The first time we went through it my nerves were making me fuck up my lines and do stupid nervous-tic things like shifting my weight and tucking my hair, and I was really irritated with myself. So I asked Elana if I could do it again, and that time I really concentrated on giving a good performance and not dwelling on my icky feeling. It wasn't so bad, I guess, but it goes to further solidify my lack of understanding of the appeal of bisexuality.

A number of people I know recently decided they were bisexual, and apparently many of the mostly or nominally straight girls I know can get into the idea of other girls. I... don't get it. For me, the idea of touching or kissing a person of my own gender is, well, creepy. I guess it's a matter of "you don't really get it unless you feel it yourself," but whenever I hear about girls talking about attraction to other girls, I can't help but feel like, "But... doesn't the ick factor get in the way? Oh... you don't... have that? Oh." It's not that I can't find girls beautiful, or enjoy looking at them-- Christ, quite the opposite. But when it goes from looking to touching, the little bells go off and a part of me is just grossed out.

If that's your thing, Godspeed, of course, but for me... ew.

R&J bio

I've written a few show-program bios in my time that were intended to be funny, but I think I kind of hit the sweet spot here, so I decided I'd share it with all of you ahead of time:

"Phoebe Roberts (Count Paris) knows that if there's one acting challenge that is relished by every five-foot-four, hundred-and-ten-pound girl with a high voice, it's portraying the masculine antagonist who is supposed to present the hero with a viable romantic threat. Blessed with this most coveted opportunity, she has donned her man-pants and practiced her man-walk with great diligence in the service of bringing to life this admirable figure that other characters just can't seem to stop praising when he's not around. The male parts among her previous roles of Dromio of Ephesus (Comedy of Errors), Cordelia/the Fool (King Lear), and Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream) have also done much to prepare her for this, her manliest role yet. She asks that you all enjoy the show, and remember that you don't need to be taller than your Juliet to be a man of wax."

Heh. I am pleased with myself.

Sicky-sick

This week Phoebe has a case of the sicky-sicks, which means I have enough of a sore throat and sinus congestion to be very uncomfortable but not so bad that I'm not able to function more or less as normal. I have a pretty tough immune system, but still this seems to crop up about once a year. Guess it's that time again. So, despite my desire to do nothing but roll around in bed muttering, "I'm sick, I'm sick," to myself, as I inexplicably always want to do, I must simply go about my life with slightly more nose-blowing and pain when speaking. Heh, saying hello to my coworker was the first speaking I did all morning, and I was surprised at how creepy my voice sounded. Trying to dose with hot tea, though it kind of hurts to swallow. I'm a little concerned about talking at rehearsals, not to mention the fact that kissing is supposed to start this week. Great, not only do I have to get over my little hangups about kissing a girl, I have to worry about whether I'm going to infect her with plague when I do it. :-P

Capturing Paris

Had my first blocking rehearsal for Romeo and Juliet last night, and I enjoyed it very much. I'm liking this character, Count Paris, but I think he is going to take a little while to really get a handle on. I've played more than my share of men on stage before, but I believe this is the first time I've ever played a character that required this particular kind of "model of a man" masculine presence. Paris is supposed to be an attractive, powerful, highly admirable example of masculinity. I know I can be a small and perhaps slightly delicate man. Can I be a handsome alpha male? That's a little tough when your Juliet is taller than you.

Contrast my most recent previous male roles-- Fleance, Puck, the Fool, Dromio. A boy who wasn't yet a grown man. A nonhuman presence that didn't need any strong gendering. A flexible presence that was far more defined by personality. A comedic character who wasn't supposed to have any manly authority. It was easier to buy that these character were males who simply weren't "man's men." With Paris, though, you can tell from the way the other characters talk about him that they see him as basically the model of what a man should be-- I think being decidedly masculine is part of that. It's important that I establish him as a figure who would have earned that reputation, and I don't know if just going with the "delicate-featured youth" air is going to cut it. It's going to be a real challenge for me to project that kind of presence, but I'm going to work very hard on it and I am determined to figure it out.

Less emo post

Mmkay, after that long emo post, I'll try and focus on more positive things.

I got a part in Romeo and Juliet! I am playing Paris, county and cousin to the Prince of Verona, with whom I am well pleased because I get a fight scene as well as whenever I'm not around all the other characters praise me effusively. I can get behind that. :-) The show is going up during Parents' Weekend this year, which means a short rehearsal period, but also that we get a built-in audience with all those families around that need something to do.

Also, my brother just got around to telling me about the nice thing he did for me. He was in LA all this past summer being a PA on television productions, and a friend of his, his roommate, did the same thing in Florida. His friend worked on Burn Notice, and Casey got him to bring me back a copy of a director's script and one of the actors' scripts, he couldn't remember which one. Isn't that cool? Casey can be really cool when he wants to be. Speaking of Burn Notice, I'm hoping the get my tabletop game running again this coming Sunday. I have a really cool session in mind, so I'm pretty excited.

Tried a new pumpkin pie recipe this past weekend. Made in conjunction with my famous apple and berry pie recipes, it was more complicated than my typical one, involving pre-baking cooking and freshly ground spices that gave it quite a kick. I really liked it, though, it's very flavorful, if perhaps a bit strong. I had so much of the supplies left over that I made four little mini-pies as well in my darling red ramekins. Figuring out baking time was a bit of a challenge-- they're four-inch vessels but they're much deeper than the typical pie pan --so I basically just threw them in and checked them every five minutes until they were done. I think it took about a half an hour in total. Still, they came out tasty, and I had the pleasure of looking at lovely little mini-pies. I do so love tiny food.

Yes, I am not doing fantastically lately. But I'm trying to get past it.

Last Saturday and Sunday

Saturday I threw a "meet the new roommate" dinner at Elsinore. We now have our last roommate Miriam, while Bernie just got a new roommate RJ, so we thought we'd invite them to dinner and make nice. We did it potluck, which was easier on the ol' pocketbook, but tougher on my "I want to control every aspect of the menu so it's up to my quality standards" instinct. It came out pretty tasty anyway, with grilled steaks, brussel sprouts, bread, and other good things. And I didn't have to spend the whole day cooking. I also know Jared has been itching to do social things with all the friends he hasn't seen in three months, so I'm glad he had a good time. After dinner we ate cheesecake and watched Clue-- an excellent thing for me, since I can study it for ideas on how to write my next game. The murder mechanic may be assisted by figuring out how it occurred int he film and trying to simulate that somehow. We're still figuring it out.

Sunday I piled Jared, Bernie, and Emma into my car and drove to Lunenburg to attend an excellent board gaming party thrown by Matt and Lise. I really don't get to see them enough, so I was very excited for this get-together. I only played one game but I liked being with people even more. I had a very nice time talking to Vicky, with whom I clearly don't seem to do that enough. And Lise and Matt served delicious beef shish kebobs; I think I must get the recipe. Unfortunately Jared and I couldn't stay for more than a few hours, because he had promised to help out Hold Thy Peace at the Activities Fair.

Again, I am extremely proud of HTP's new e-board. They were right there giving their all for the entire Fair, and they roped in quite a few names on the mailing list as well as the audition sheet for Romeo and Juliet. I signed up, though I haven't decided what piece to audition with. Or what to say on my casting questionnaire-- if anything in particular. It makes me glad to see so many people going out; it increases the chances of getting real talent, and means we won't be so pressed for just the simple number of necessary actors.

So, after all that, I am tired. I think I am going to spend the evening tonight at home recharging. I need some unscheduled time for a little while. Too long without it and I start losing equilibrium.

Thinking about Romeo and Juliet

I'm thinking now, as Macbeth winds down, about the upcoming Hold Thy Peace production of Romeo and Juliet. I am deciding whether or not to try out. I'm very tempted, that's for sure; I love being in a show, I love being in Hold Thy Peace, and I'm interested in working with Elana as a director. I'd probably miss it keenly if I didn't do it. I have reservations about it, though. Even though I know it is all right for graduates to be in shows, I don't want to do anything inappropriate. Also, I worry about the time commitment of working during the day and having rehearsal at night. Maybe if I went out for a small, fun part, like the Nurse. I really like the Nurse. :-) Or, heh, ask if I could be Rosaline, the pretty girl at the party with no lines. Maybe I'll talk to Elana about it.