Creating, collecting, and sharing thoughts and ideas. And learning along the way.
Plays, concerts, shows, and other events that I’ve been to in the flesh. Or have had an out-of-body experience about. Also, other items and events that inspire me, and are no less than a “show,” be it in my mind’s eye or in my backyard.
Saturday evening bliss.
This is the wreath that adorns my front door. I made it the Summer of 2005 with crafts and supplies from Michael’s, our local crafts store. That glue-gun came in very handy, as you can see!
How beautiful it is to let the seasons dictate your decor! The show does go on!
Yes! You can count me in– I’ll be there!
“We rehearse outside 3 days a week, and we have had to have over half, even three-quarters, of them inside the Reader Center, which is challenging,” said Mendeloff. “It is a big play—lots of characters, and a pastoral section that is very dependent on being in the actual setting. We are doing three dances, two courtly ones and one peasant dance, and these are not easy to fit into our rehearsal room, which is also our costume and prop storage area. But I have a good group of actors and we are moving along.”
Plus, it’s a big group, since Mendeloff double-cast nearly all the roles (“I had a lot of good actors come out for auditions,” said Mendeloff); and because the show (and the audience) traditionally “travels” on foot to different areas of Nichols Arboretum throughout the show, to witness different scenes in different settings, it’s been particularly challenging to experiment with this year’s chosen sites.
But all this hasn’t dampened Mendeloff’s affection for the play, which tells the story of a king who sends his pregnant wife to persuade a visiting king (and close friend) to extend his visit. When the queen succeeds, her husband irrationally grows convinced that his wife and his friend are having an affair. Consequently, the visiting king flees into hiding; the wife is imprisoned, and reportedly dies after hearing news of her son’s death; and the baby she bears is “delegitimized” and banished. 16 years later, the surviving characters’ paths cross again, and past injustices are finally addressed.
“It is one of Shakespeare’s late romances, and it is really a complete three-act tragedy, a pastoral comedy, and a romance all in one,” said Mendeloff, who also noted the appeal of the play’s 3 compelling female leads (Queen Hermione, her lady-in-waiting Paulina, and her daughter Perdita) as well as jealous king Leontes, whom she compares to other towering Shakespeare figures (Lear, MacBeth, and Othello). “ … But (Leontes) plays his own Iago, … and that struggle within his mind is fascinating. I love that the play deals with the reviving benefits of nature; that it has magical elements … and that it really is a ‘tale’ – like a fairy tale, full of heroes, and villains, and something like a happy ending. … It’s a very Christian play in many ways. The dead can come back, wounds can be healed, and losses can be overcome.”
One of the first things that inspired Mendeloff’s deep affection for “Tale” was a Margaret Jowett novel that Mendeloff read at age 8, called “Candidate for Fame,” which focuses on a young actress who plays Perdita at the Drury Lane Theatre during the Restoration.
But also, while a grad student at Yale Drama School, Mendeloff directed a production of “Tale” that she never got to see, due to health issues. “So it felt like a piece of unfinished business to me,” said Mendeloff.
While doing research for her current production, Mendeloff learned that the main story seems to have been inspired by the relationship between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn (whose daughter, Elizabeth, was “delegitimized” following her mother’s death); and the character of Leontes appears to be a critique of the autocratic style of King James.
And while you might think that “Tale” marks a turn away from the bard’s lighter comedies—Shakespeare in the Arb has previously presented “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “As You Like It,” and “Love’s Labors Lost,” among others—Mendeloff is quick to point out that even Shakespeare’s silliest fare is haunted by violence and dark undertones.
“The balance (in ‘Tale’) is a little different, in that all of the heavy stuff happens in the first 3 acts,” Mendeloff said. “But every Shakespeare play has a level of injustice in it, and tyrants who overstep their bounds.”
Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.
It comes around each year toward the end of the month of May, and this is yet another holiday that is not date-bound; rather, it is tied to a certain day of the week– if it’s the last Monday in May, it must be Memorial Day! And while the holiday was first established to honor the memory of our servicemen and women who had made the ultimate sacrifice to their country with their lives, the long Memorial Day weekend also marks the unofficial start of the summer season.
What follows below are three posts that were all initially published in my private blog on the occassion of Memorial Day for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. This year, Memorial Day is just as special as it has been every year, only I am prepared to publicly share my joy with one and all via this post to my public blog. And although I don’t know what exactly is in store this weekend, I’ll bet good money it will be something very much along the lines of the last three years. One thing for sure is that we’ll certainly have some Cactus Lime beer on tap, and my thoughts about the reason for the holiday will also be the same. Check out the stream of thoughts from the last three years, and wherever you are, raise a toast to the brave men and women of these great United States of America who serve with valor and honor– in life and in death.
This picture was taken last April when we visited Arlington National Cemetery where our national heros are laid to rest. The other pictures were attached to the old posts from years past. Happy Memorial Day!
Tuesday, June 01, 2010: It’s Here Again!
And so, we went back, hoping that this time around we’d find another nice magnolia, perhaps a stronger one that would take root. But when we got there, we found ourselves looking at some other plants and trees, and before long we were picking up this little lilac bush… Well, long story short, we picked it up, brought it home, planted it, and the rest as they say, is history!
So, Mother’s Day has come and gone, and over these past few weeks, I have beamed and shared my good fortune and blessings of bearing the title of ‘mother’ with my family, friends and loved ones. You’ve seen pictures of a scrumptious brunch I was treated to, as well as an exquiste cake and breathtakingly beautiful flowers, but I didn’t make any mention of a card, did I?
