[lit-ideas] As I liked it

Sorry folks, this post is actually about literature -- sorta!

This past Friday, a friend and I made our yearly pilgrimage to Stratford
(ontario, can, not the "real" one) to see Shakespeare's "As You Like It". He
and I met in a Shakespeare study class during University where we read 29 of
the plays in 8 months. Even though neither of us have a job remotely related
to Literature, we both try to keep up with things literary and have done a
decent job for the past 20 years. I hadn't read or seen this play since
ENG326/7 back in 1991 (I remember vividly because it was a night class and
during the break, the prof came back to announce that the Gulf War (Bush I)
had just begun).

Anyway, as is customary for us, we both re-read the play we were to view and
during the 2 1/2 hour ride to our destination, we both expressed surprise at
how much funnier it was this time around. We, being of frugal soul, (and
both with kids we'd rather spend the money on) also make it a habit to see
the 'cheap' shows in the first few weeks before their official "opening"
after which the ticket prices get outrageous. An offshoot of this is that we
are usually seated in a theatre FULL of school children who also partake in
cheap shows en masse as well as for the fact that they aren't generally IN
school during the summer season of the Stratford Festival. Last year, we saw
MacBeth which was ruined by a bunch of giggling 12-14 year olds. This year
we showed up and the kids were REALLY young. I overheard that they were in
grade 4 as a teacher/chaperone was talking to the usher.

So, picture the scene. It was me, Dan, about a dozen other adults who
weren't with the school and about 15 busloads of 9 year-olds. We were not
looking forward to this... BUT:

These kids were the most well-behaved, sophisticated bunch of 9 year olds
and the best part was that they GOT the play! The play was so accessible.
The actors were saying all the lines, but it didn't sound 'like that', you
know the Gielgud effect. Touchstone and Jacques were played like I never
thought they could be to a perfect response. They had musicians onstage and
the actors were playing and singing live. The set was out of this world and
the it was set in a weird kind of time-change that seemed to fluidly
increase from about 1850 to the 1940s by the end of the play. The music was
dixieland by the end with the mass wedding. Fantastic show! We got our 29
bucks worth and more.

Anyway, I guess my point is that there are actually young people (very young
people) out there -- even if these kids were from some private schools (I
found that out from eavesdropping as well) -- who can appreciate 'the
classics'. That is heartening.

putting away my handbasket, temporarily
p

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