Midsummer was Great

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.”

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Backyard

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?

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The Quality of Mercy is not Strained

Longtime Seattle actors Amy Thone and Hans Altwies have said their daughter Stella, 13, is dealing with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare, soft-tissue cancer. A year’s worth of intensive treatment is indicated, chem, radiation and possibly surgery.  A week from a normal healthy kid to this.

Thone and Altwies have graced almost every major stage in Seattle, some of them multiple times, with performances ranging from merely superb to electrifying. The outpouring from the theatre community has been a great support and comfort to them. The couple count themselves fortunate that Thone teaches classes at The University of Washington–and thus has health care through the U. But make no mistake, this is going to be brutally hard on people who have always been open-handedly generous. There’s a donation site for Stella.
….. Stella for Star at gofundme.com
“It blesses him that gives,
and him that take.”

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