memories.

Tomorrow is the first day of my school's annual Play Week. (Called "Shakespeare in a Week" until this year. This year we are doing a play by Barbara Fields, and, well, "Fields in a Week?" No. Just no.) Anyway, I thought  I would start it out by posting pictures from my last two play weeks (7th and 8th grade). 


So, here we go:


1. Play Week 2009: 7th grade - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Desperately scared of the stage, I half-on-purpose-half-out-of-sheer-terror bombed the (mandatory) audition. And begged the director not to give me a part, which she had no problems complying with. I was on Costumes & Makeup. It was fun, I suppose, but mostly I just fixed the sewing machine (more than 10 times... Costumes and Makeup has been affectionately dubbed "girl dump" by some... it's kind of the place to stick the girls that don't fit anywhere else. Not that there aren't people there who know/enjoy what they're doing. But there are some who, well, let's say- might be better off somewhere else. Hence the sewing machine problems). Other than that, I spent most of my time and sneaking into the dark back of the auditorium to watch the play (yes, I admit it, I was one of those "girl dump" girls). 


All of these were taken with an ancient Kodak EasyShare. I don't even have any idea what kind it was. But better than nothing, right?

 Only one of these girls still goes to my school. It's sad :(. 

 My homeroom, Pythagoras, in the old yellow room! Plus all the extra people drawn in by our general awesomeness :). 

Demetrius and Helena? I think? (As in their roles. I know their real names.) They both went to college that year. 

 The unfinished set... and rehearsal.

 During the "Fashion Show". Our director had Helena and Hermia wear Converse with their dresses. I don't quite remember her reasoning behind it. Something about them being independent and rebellious. I just thought it looked like we didn't have any period shoes for them to wear, but I'm no costume expert. 

 I like how Anna and Ellen have remarkably similar facial expressions. 

 Making fairy costumes :). 

 Another fairy. Yes, those are ping-pong ball necklaces. Definitely not my idea. But an interesting one. (They were glow in the dark too! Too bad the fairies were never in the dark onstage, or all of that work might actually have paid off!)

Poor Andrew. Ha. 

That was a fun year :).

2. Play Week 2010: 8th grade- Comedy of Errors

That year my opinion as to acting changed drastically. I really wanted a part, and even tried out for a lead role. I got the role of "Second Merchant". I guess I was a little disappointed, but it turned out to be the best role I could have hoped for- not too long, but just long enough so that I could basically stay in the auditorium the whole time and not be too involved with any other crews. Not that I disliked Props, the crew I was on... but I did dearly love watching the play come together. 

These were taken with a newer Kodak EasyShare. But still not a very high-quality camera. So the low-lights are pretty sad. Sorry :).

 Grace painting the blocks.

 Antipholus of Syracuse, Adriana, Luciana, and Dromio of Syracuse. 

 Luciana and Adriana. The two seniors. *Sniff.*

Syracutians. 

 This is realllly unclear, but it's still one of my favorite pictures. The person attacking Beth is my Latin teacher... Hahahaha :).

 Anna, being very diligent. 

 My favorite Latin teacher EVER. 

 Goth, Old, and Creepy. These are my friends, people. 

Before the cast party.

That also was an amazing year.

I can't help but feel like this year can't possibly measure up to the last 2 years. For one thing, we aren't doing Shakespeare. Great Expectations will be fun too, I'm sure, but... there's just something magical about putting on a Shakespeare play. Whether you're on Costumes, Props, Set Construction, or anything else, it's kind of like dropping back to the 17th century for a week. And I'm also sad because some of my closest friends who were here last year graduated/moved, and so they won't be here for the week. Also, I have the worst part. Ever. Narrator. I have way over 200 lines. There are so many narrator lines (interspersed between all of the characters' lines in each scene) that our director had to divide the narrator part into 5 or 6 people (I don't remember exactly how many there are). But we each have a bunch, and I think I have more than anyone else. (But I could be wrong. The divisions were kind of random and I just happened to end up with a TON). On top of all of this, and being onstage in almost every single scene (there are over 50 of them), I am Stage Manager. How am I supposed to figure all of that out this week when I'm acting the whole time? Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh. This week will be frustrating.

But. It will be fun. I'm sure it will be. *Sigh.* I'm determined to enjoy it. I'm going to hope we'll do Shakespeare next year, and that I'll get a real part (as in, not narrator- because Shakespeare was too cool for narrators). But for this year, I'll just try to have fun. I'm sure it won't take very much trying :). Play week is awesome all by itself, even if the play is... uh... *a little tiny bit lame*. 

So, I'll post pictures soon, which will hopefully be better quality than the last two years, although my camera doesn't do too well in low-light either.

Have a great Friday, and a restful weekend! 

-Stacey