so i’ve recently finished writing a middle grade novel about kids performing shakespeare. (crayon boxers are getting all the news and updates on that quest!)

and the place i went to first observe kids rehearsing shakespeare a few years ago for author research purposes? well, i attended their performance of THE SCOTTISH PLAY* on saturday night.

not only did i see these kids a few years older than when i saw them rehearsing A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (outside the noisy recess playground fence for PROJECTING purposes), but it reinforced some things.

like, kids don’t change all that much from generation to generation. it’ll forever be awkward to fit four of you onto a piano bench for the banquet scene, and “ack, my elbow is touching a boy! does he mind? he’s kinda gross, but also kinda cute.”

also, the kid you cast as the funny one (nick bottom the weaver) three years ago WILL, indeed, eat a raw potato on stage to make his fellow actors crack. which will, indeed, pull focus from a very serious BANQUO the ghost** at the table monologue from the title actor doing a bang-up-job on his WHOLE lotta lines.

while i have a LOT of material for the day (*hopefully*) when i get to write another theatre kid book, and i’m definitely not here to bash any elements of the production, i wasn’t the only one in the audience holding in a few good laughs. for example:

karate chops during the sword fights (also, cringe, because halloween costume swords and not fight-choreography-safe swords for on-stage clashing and clanging!!)

macbeth scaring the soldier (half-his-height) into the wings during dialogue
the wide-stanced cowboy-waddle-walk to keep one’s too-long dress off the ground instead of holding it up off the ground
a too-small stage exit doorway, so go ahead and scoot your own body off the stage because the 7th grade boy playing the soldier isn’t strong enough to get you there while you’re “dead.”

i also got a good pre*show giggle at the program footnote: “special appearance as soldiers by the jv basketball team.” and while the stage was often crowded, i suppose i AM all about as many kids getting exposed experience to live theatre and the arts, so i shouldn’t complain, even if there was a traffic jam in the wings. (which lead the actors to wait in the front seats in the audience for their next stage entrance instead of waiting backstage. distracting? you betcha.)

there were a number of times i wanted to call out (in the voice of Sir Max, the shakespeare director in my book) stage directions and corrections. but hey, i wasn’t directing it. and it was a final performance even if all the actors had been mingling in the audience before the proverbial curtain. (i guess the vague, faerie-tale-esque fancy costumes are kinda the best part of being in the play? and you wanna show off your outfit to friends and family as much as possible?) and even though the house lights were basically on for the 2-hour traffic of our stage.

but all in all? huzzah for kids and shakespeare.

they did an incredible job.

fact: kids can memorize anything. even better if they can figure out what it means before delivery.

(i recently read that zendaya made a substantial donation to the shakespeare children’s theatre where she learned to act out in LA! it makes a difference!!)

bonus: a happy 460th (presumed) b*day to the bard himself.

if england would let me, i’d risk the curse to dig up your bones, but i doubt they’d spill your secrets, either.

with an amen stuck in my throat,

and a reminder to read gabrielle zevin’s TOMORROW AND TOMORROW AND TOMORROW *** if you haven’t already,

xo,

*hallie :)

> not scotland, but i did post a reel of my 2019 trip to kronburg, hamlet’s castle, over on my instagram today in honor of the bard’s (celebrated) birthday.

* as theatre people are a superstitious bunch, i’m here to encourage you not to say the play’s name out loud unless you’re outside—or no where near a theatre. promise? ok. i’ll give you the real play title one letter at a time. it’s spelled M-A-C-B-E-T-H. remember: don’t ever say it in the theatre! (unless you’re performing the play and have to—absolutely have to—use the guy’s name.) in the meantime, you may call it “the scottish play.” or “mackers,” if you prefer. alright. carry on!

** the scottish play, although one of shakespeare’s shorter works, has always been a challenge for me. i am NO GOOD at politics, royal/military titles, succession orders, battles, who’s in charge, etc. so it took me a bit to realize BANQUO was being played by girl (in a long dress in the opening scene, a sword as tall as she was belted at her hip)… in the “is macbeth crazy and seeing things” banquet scene, i realized she was cast for her wednesday-addams dead pan glare. (and maybe has helped a brother or two put on his football “eye black” paint before? she wore it well as the ghost.)

*** this is a line from one of macbeth’s monologues, and man, i wish the young actor had taken the time to punch it. what a speech!

while the production i attended was not as silly (and a lot less disturbing) than the elementary school production depicted in the classic, canadian shakespeare theatre tv drama slings & arrows, the principal of the school did make a point of pointing out how saturday night’s performance was a bit bloodier than the comedies these kids are used to presenting.

as mentioned, however, there were still giggles (on stage and off) thanks to potato*eaters and death slides. and honestly, some of shakespeare’s “comedies” have a lot more non-child-appropriate things (“hidden” in the puns and language) than mackers anyway. ;)

go ahead and scoot your own dead body across the stage

bonus: a happy 460th (presumed) b*day to the bard himself.