Shakespeare in the Park

Aside from writing, one of my great loves is acting. For over twenty years I have been involved with the plays of Shakespeare in the Park. I have worked backstage and on stage and as an Assistant Director in several productions.

At the moment we are in the final week of performances for The Scottish Play. The play, M****** shall not be named due to theatre and actor superstitions. The director doesn’t believe in the superstition but nevertheless, we have had injuries, blown lights, sound issues and the annihilation of our set due to a hurricane. Our opening night was rained out. A bit strange, yes? It is said that the play is cursed because Shakespeare used actual incantations in the witches’ scenes. Hmmmm….. Nasty bit of business.

All that aside, for twenty-five years the performances  in the park have been stellar, with great actors telling the stories and making the language live for modern audiences.

It seems Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be performed outside, under the stars. There is no other theatre experience like it. The audience may brings chairs and/or blankets, a picnic and a beverage of choice to sit in the amphitheater and enjoy the experience with the moon shining through the trees.

“...the play’s the thing…”

                        Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

NEWS OF THE WORLD- OCTOBER 2018 BOOK SELECTION

News of the World by Paulette Jiles is another selection made by my Book Club  and another revelation. The novel takes place after the Civil War while the nation is still in a state of unrest. Texas is under martial law in a bid to contain a lawless situation. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, seventy-one, widower and veteran of three wars, makes his living going from town to town in Texas, giving live readings of newspaper articles to groups of interested listeners. Some of his audience cannot read, while others simply prefer to “hear” what is happening.

While in Wichita Falls, near the then Indian Border, he is approached by an acquaintance. He is persuaded to deliver a child, a ten year-old girl, to relatives living in a small town near San Antonio. This child is a rescued captive of Kiowa Indians, having lived with them for four years. Her true family, German immigrants, were brutally slaughtered in front of her. This would be a dangerous and long journey under any circumstances, but there is an additional problem. Johanna Leonberger, the little girl, considers herself a Kiowa and did not want to be rescued. 

The novel follows their four-hundred-mile journey, facing thieves, child-traffickers, murderous Comanche and Kiowa and the Federal Army to name a few. The formation of the bond between the Kep-dun, as she calls him, and Johanna is inevitable but has consequences when he must deliver her to her less than desirable relatives.                  

Not to be missed.

Highly Recommend.