Über-cuteness bears
Candy-hued innovation:
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posted: 7:59:37 PM  

I did a cold reading under Sally's auspices of a play in development by Jeff. It's based on the historical characters from the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Anthony Comstock, self-appointed anti-smut vigilante, and Ida Craddock, sexual reformer, spiritualist, and probable nut case. This was Jeff's second draft, and it's actually taking on some dramatic shape. Comstock (read by Greg) has some stemwinding speeches, and Ida (read by Sally) is a three-dimensional character, arousing pity and indignation.

Coming up, I'm preparing for (or procrastinating about preparing for) auditions for Henry V at Elden Street Players. David S., the director, is asking for a monologue of 10-15 lines of Shakespeare; the postcard announcement says, "expect... to present it several different ways." So I'm dusting off Sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds"), which I have used once or twice in the past. I'm wondering if I can pull off reading it like a Las Vegas comedian. David S. is looking to use 12-16 actors, hence lots of doubling or tripling. My type runs to Montjoy and the effete French, but I'm hoping for a crack at Fluellen. And I expect everyone would like to do Chorus (he opens the play with "O for a muse of fire"), but I have an inkling that a lot of Chorus's exposition and recap will be cut.

Leta and I watched the Branagh movie on Monday; it's unusual for me to look at someone else's work, but I need all the handholds I can get for this material. Ian Holm (Ian Holm!) is Fluellen in the flick, and he drops most of the Welsh dialect that Shakespeare has written for him (changing his B's to P's, for instance). His captain is much more serious than the one that I read on the page. The movie also interpolates some flashbacks from Henry IV so that we can understand Falstaff's importance, and I believe that David S. is going to do the same.

posted: 7:37:08 PM  

Leta drew a Mr. Picassohead for me. Hmm, she seems to have drawn herself as a blonde.

posted: 6:07:54 PM