Wrapping It Up

After months of meetings and rehearsals followed by a full day of helping kids perform four shows, I look forward to an icy margarita with my husband, William, and any friends hanging around after the tear-down.

I love to sit back in an old wooden chair in a dimly lit Mexican restaurant, with a candle flickering inside red glass atop a table covered in a worn checkered tablecloth. Ahhh, yes.

I had hugged the last of the actors and crew and they went home with their families to bed, where I was pretty darn sure they would sleep deeply and dream crazily.

With the help of Rachel and a few hearty gentlemen, I cleaned up the detritus of another opening, another show. Chairs had to be stored, electrical tape pulled off the floor, props packed and piles of stuff wheeled out to my car, which became quickly overstuffed.

With a long push-broom the auditorium was swept, and like magic it was as if nothing extraordinary had taken place at this school — transformed into a Shakespearean theatre for a day.

Rachel had family visiting from out of town and was obligated to scuttle away to spend time with them. William was across the country working in Louisiana and my friends had attended performances earlier in the day.

There was simply no way I was going to find my way to a Mexican restaurant, all alone, to sip a frosty and munch my way through bowl after bowl of tortilla chips. So, I drove home and unpacked the car. I loaded our garage up with boxes marked THE SHAKESPEARE CLUB along with a bench, swords and a set of bongo drums.

I ran a hot bath, undressed, crawled into the tub and watched the sun set outside the window.

I drank half a glass of wine and slipped into bed for my own deep sleep and crazy dreams.

As I was drifting off, I thought of Mark, who started the club this year with a slightly tarnished reputation. His mom kept him away from the first meeting as punishment for naughty behavior. Through months of working on "Macbeth" and studying his role of Malcolm, Mark started to find, inch by inch, his discipline and the appropriate place to deliver his voice.

I closed my eyes, let my head sink into the pillow and smiled as I remembered what Rachel told me after the last performance.

"Mark's mother came up to me," Rachel disclosed. "She said, 'We didn't know he had that in him.' "

We didn't know he had that in him.
We didn't know he had that in him.
We didn't know he had that in him...
we didn't know...

zzzzzzzzzz...

CHILDREN'S WRITES: A Journal Entry

My wish came true. I was thinking we would not be good in the play because most people didn't know thier lines but it turned out to be good though.

1. Acting
2. Audience
3. Happy time
4. The people I worked with
5. The parties
6. Stage manager
7. Miss Ryane
8. Miss Rachel
9. Shakespeare movies
10. Parents that brought food
11. Reahersals
12. being in the back of the auditorium on May 27, 10 helping out
13. Prefromance

—Celia, 4th grade