Bigdaddy Shakespeare's Magical Shakespeare Adventure

 I haven't really felt like blogging in ages.  I wonder why I have lost this desire to chronicle my shows lately.  I guess the peak of my blogging happened during that fateful summer of the attack.  I was able to power through that because I needed a place to put my thoughts and feelings to parse them.  Since then, I've done some wonderful shows with wonderful people, made great friends and have at times lived my best life!  So, I should probably share those too.

Last summer I blogged a bit about my first time at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  It's a magical place, filled with magical people, in a setting that is about as pretty as you'll find anywhere in the world.  I chronicled chasing shooting stars and my emergency understudy gig in Much Ado.  There were some important things that happened last year.  I was able to finally let go of much of the trauma of the attack, and find a safe place onstage again.  The stage has always been my sanctuary.  The rehearsal room my safe space.  Working here at USF gave me back those feelings, that peace.

So, when I got a contract again for this summer I was elated!  I worried that maybe it wouldn't be the same, that it wouldn't be all shiny and new and exciting, but it was even better this season!  There are some friends that weren't here this year that I miss, but a whole bunch of new family that I made.  I honestly feel so honored and humbled to be back.  I hope that it becomes a yearly tradition.  I seriously want to do this, here, for the rest of my life.  I didn't have a single bad day...I did have many days I was exhausted and sweaty, but the good kinds of exhaustion and sweatiness.  

I'm back in Cedar this weekend for the Shakespeare Competition, which is a magical time.  Seeing hundreds of high school students performing Shakespeare scenes and monologues feeds the soul.  To see how they throw themselves into the work with verve and joy is life (and career) affirming.  It does matter what we do!  It makes a difference.  We have inspired these kids, and now they inspire us!  

I got to teach Shakespeare to middle school and high schoolers earlier this summer, and getting to adjudicate the work of some of those same kids and their peers is truly awesome.  

As for the plays this year, I'm really proud of all the work that was done on this campus.  All three Shakespeare shows were bangers!  It was my sixth production of Macbeth, but my first Ross.  And the first time I got to do a Mackers with Hecate, and my first time with this level of production values.  It was probably my favorite of the shows to perform, and I don't know if that's because I had the most to do in it, or because I just love that play and hearing the echoes of all those productions past.  

I played Eros in Antony and Cleopatra like 30 years ago and I haven't seen a production since, so getting to be part of that play was different in my fifties.  It's a play about aging warriors and boy does that resonate with who I am today.  I played Thidias, who is in the play to drive a wedge between Antony and Cleopatra, and he actually is successful in that action to a degree.  I also understudied Marc Antony, which is by far the biggest understudy load I've ever had.  I loved that challenge, and now I am desperately looking for another company doing it so I can actually say those words onstage!  Our A&C was so cool.  It was not an easy show, as I had fights and dances and lots of costume changes, but it was always fun!  

Probably the most surprising role for me this summer was that of Corin.  I remember being down in Florida telling Trent and Moriel that I had no idea how I was going to play this guy.  He seemed so far away from me, and more specifically, my usual casting.  Simple, wise, guileless, kind Corin seemed out of reach for this cynical old artist.  Trent told me that he saw all of those qualities in me.  Which was a kindness and also made me realize that my best self is closer to a Corin than to a Jaques.  And what a gift to discover that I can still access my best self, and the response to it was more than to any of my other roles this summer.  It really was a magical experience to put on Corin every night and feel myself being drawn towards that better me.

All four other plays that were done here this summer were also incredible.  I don't know what the odds are of having 7 great productions, with no outliers are, but we did it!  I also met some great artists who came to Cedar City from other theatres and made some connections which may turn into jobs, but hopefully into more than that, but friendships.

I didn't have those post show blues after my shows closed, partly because I knew I'd be back for the competition.  But I sit here typing this now in full-on post show blues.  I walked past the theatres tonight, in this sleepy town and it hit me that I don't know that I'll have the chance to be back here.  I hope so, but I don't know.  I didn't know that I could replicate the magic of that first year, and yet it was only enhanced this year...I would love to see how that continues to grow next year!