I ‘m off tomorrow to teach at the 4th Annual Full-Bodied Writing Summer Retreat 2019 a holistic writing retreat for body mind and soul. The retreat center is located on Hood Canal, near Union, Washington.
MIdsummer was great. The weather held off until we were done and everyone had gone home for the night. Meanwhile, we had a 98-year-old hula dance in attendance, a 270 lb man played Titania queen of the Fairies for one scene, and whenever anyone laid down on the ground to sleep, as happens often in the play, Kona the dog would wander over and lick their faces.
The kids dance for the Queen, beautifully choreographed by Mari Heminway, was a great success. The ham, in sandwiches and on stage, especially the death of Pyramus as performed by Felix Coble. Hoping to post a photo of that soon,, though early results suggest all photographers may have been laughing too hard to focus.
“O lord, what fools these mortals be.”
Most Tragical, Ham-Handed Rendition
of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
again
The Kahle Brothers and Illustrious Sprites
Why in the world would you go to all that trouble, scripts and funny hats and plastic swords and lion masks and all? Why would you do it year after year, 22 +/-? Because of moments like this. (Act II Sc 2), or the dignified woman wailing “use me but as your spaniel!” (Act II Sc 1) or the slow reader chewing his way through six lines of Elizabethan English (Act II Sc 1) to tumultuous applause.
We go for moments of Dramatic Relief. We have the luxury of playing with pure gold.
If you could, why the hell wouldn’t you?
“Things are never what they seem,
find the lost inside the dream.”
Janet Carey (In the Time of the Dragon Moon) has now posted on her Dreamwalks blog an interview I did preparatory to the Fourth Annual “Full Bodied Writjng” Summer Retreat. https://janetleecarey.com/dream-walks/unpacking-the-mind-of-peter-v-kahle/ I am presenting a workshop there, the last weekend in June. Full disclosure, I have known Janet for twenty five years, starting in the 1990’s when we had board positions with the Pacific Northwest Writers Association , through shared critique groups, etc. I have otherwise hobnobbed and associated with her. I know her to be a writer thoughtful and brave, who works in many levels in her fiction. I appreciate the precision of her language. Her blog is well worth a read, a very thoughtful examination of writing and art with professionals talking about their process and intent.
A documentary short (8 min) that SIFF has paired with the documentary N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear, the film is experimental in that there is no plot. Rather a lesson in the Kiowa language is accompanied by stunning views and sounds of the open prairie land.