Hannah's Blog

Alone, and yet alive!
Oh, sepulchre! My soul is still my body’s prisoner!
Remote the peace that Death alone can give-
My doom to wait! my punishment, to live!

Hearts do not break! They sting and ache For old love’s sake, But do not die,
Tho’ with each breath
They long for death,
As witnesseth The living I, The living I…

Oh living I!
Come tell me why, When hope is gone,
Dost thou stay on?
Why linger here, Where all is drear?
Oh, living I!
Come, tell me why, When hope is gone,
Dost though stay on?
May not a cheated maiden die?
May not a cheated maiden die?

It’s settled…Than is to have a small part in The Mikado.
It’s rather exciting…I’ve had five-six hour rehearsals all week, and Saturday Mrs. Libby suggested that Than and Eric be the ones to carry the Mikado’s banners. We didn’t have anyone else to do it…
I’m so glad he’s getting an early start. It’ll make it much easier for him to get into the plays later.
I’m hoping we’ll get to do a bow together one night…he’ll only be on for 5-15 minutes, I’m not exactly sure how long, but of course he’ll get to bow. I have leads both Fridays (including opening night).

I hate not having people able to comment on my site.
Today I had my first big Mikado practice. Not that many people were there…and Emily wasn’t, so I got to do my part almost all day. She came after three hours. The practice was six.
So I worked with several different people on my trio. It got a little frustrating, because I couldn’t get one part of the choreography right, with the fan, but I eventually figured it out.
I’ve been sick for two weeks. Dry through, racking cough, runny nose. This happened at the beginning of the year too, and it lasted more than two months, through all my important auditions…so I’ve started using my inhaler again, hopefully that’ll help.
Angela is such a dear. We were practicing the girls’ opening piece in the small German room, and I started coughing and coughing…since the day I had to go home early sick, she’s been very motherly…feeling my forehead, asking if I need water, etc. Sweet of her. She’s hinted that she might take over the chorus when Mrs. Libby passes away..I say passes away because as long as she’s alive, she will not give up the chorus. She loves it too much. I am quite sure that some day she will simply drop dead. Forget retirement.
Our family went to Gettysburg Sunday through Tuesday. Amazing. I’m getting involved in Reenactment ASAP. Joining the Third Maine.

I finally finished the book. Took me a few months…but now I think it’s one of my favorites. I read the translation by Seamus Heaney, (at least, I think that’s his name) and it was fascinating. There were several references made to God…interesting.
Anyway, now I need to find another book. The book club on AU is reading The Five People you meet in Heaven, or something like that…maybe I’ll try it.

Another early morning before school. Ugh.
Since setting the clocks forward, my sense of time has been a little…off. It’s only beginning to get light, and usually at this time the sun is up.
Pippin is wandering around the house meowing…I can’t quite figure out why. Ah well.
*is listening to Requiem for a Dream*
Agh…I haven’t gotten to talk with Mire much lately, not since Tulk left. Today she’s on set until around five, but that’s before I get home…and then who knows what she has to do.
Another theater is putting on The Hobbit…but again, Mom won’t let me audition. It’s too far away. It’s so frustrating…even if it was in this town, I couldn’t do it anyway, because I’m already in three theater productions/showcases this Spring. Mikado, Yeomen, and Warrenkids.
The new teacher for Warrenkids is doing pretty well. We’ve done some new exersizes and games…it’s challenging, because for five years we did mostly the same things with Jane.
At her going away party, the guys took the script and plot for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which they’d worked on recently, and changed it to fit Jane’s classes. They performed a very long skit, with Haydn as well, Jane. Just, Shakespeare style. There were so many inside jokes for those of us who had been going there long enough…
One was when Haydn said, “Now here’s a game that will warm you up. The desert game! Crawl across as if you haven’t had water for days.”
Now, the desert game is Jane’s most notorious activity. You simply lie on the floor of the room and act like someone who hasn’t had water in a long time. BUT, for some reason, there hasn’t been a single person in the history of Warrenkids who’s enjoyed it. I only had to do it once…but anyone who’s been doing the program four years or more knows what it is. So Jane just sat in the front row as the guys acted this all out, and cracked up. Most of the parents didn’t get it…it was an inside joke, really. Though they were very funny.
Another one- one of my favorite games- is the objective/elevator game. Each person has a made up character, they create it on the spot. Then we set up a perimeter- inside that perimeter is our elevator, or park, or restaurant, whatever we collectively want it to be. Then we each enter, with one objective- to get something from someone. It can be a physical object, an emotion, an action…anything. And you can’t leave until you get it. It’s a good, hard game.
Anyway, everytime we play, Jane tells us this story.
In this instance, several years ago at a different class Jane used to teach, the place was an elevator. Everyone entered, determined to get fulfill their objective…but one of them had a slightly odd desire. He was determined to get someone to take off his pants.
So he singled out his victim, and began trying to convince him to. Believe it or not, after a while, he succeeded. The young man finally gave in and pulled off his pants. And this wasn’t so much acting as…sheer persuasion.
So after Haydn introduced that game to his friends, the four of them began to play up on stage, for all of us to see, a scene within a scene. It wasn’t long before Haydn walked up to Marcus and said, “I need you to give me your pants. After the hilarity in the audience died down, Marcus grudgingly consented. The curtain went down, and as we awaited the results, Andrew stepped out and help up signs, they looked something like this.
CLAP
STOMP
SNAP
…and so on. He switched them back and forth for about five minutes, with us all applauding wildly, snapping enthusiastically, and stomping happily. Then, the curtain finally opened, and there stood Marcus and Haydn, wearing each others’ pants.
Here are a few pictures…

http://www.imagehop.com/show.php?id=9449f82e30b44

http://www.imagehop.com/show.php?id=944af873e8fc4

http://www.imagehop.com/show.php?id=944bf21b9f975

http://www.imagehop.com/show.php?id=944cf36a8cf97

And please vote for their band, The Shams, here. http://www.imagehop.com/show.php?id=944cf36a8cf97