Thursday, February 14, 2013

Double Heart: Elyria Catholic High School

Permission, sir ... Oi mus' evacuate.

Today was our first performance in front of an audience made almost entirely of teenagers. How would they react to potty humor, sexual innuendo, and ass-slicing?

It took roughly three minutes for them to "get" it. Lisa warned them they were about to hear verse, and I thought, "Oh great." And when the man with the balls on his hat came out, the rumblings lasted a few, long moments. But I just made eye-contact, delivered the opening piece with confidence and we were on our way.

The complete degenerate horribleness that is Pene caught them off-guard. There's no way he means is that he has to pee, right? That couldn't be part of this play. But of course, it is. Once they appreciated the rules, the students entirely opened up, it was magnificent.

Annie and I are backstage, waiting for our next scenes while Beatrice and Benedick are on-stage falling love during the dance, and we listened while the kids groaned in waves of frustration as our lovers almost kiss ... and then don't. Just awesome.

The discussion afterwards was by far the most enjoyable I believe I have ever had at Elyria Catholic following an outreach tour performance. Lisa asked, "What do you think about the decisions our two main characters make by the end of the play?" and it was all over, with boys and girls taking different sides about what was the right thing to do. It was heartfelt and hilarious conversation.

Tomorrow night we take Double Heart to the Eastpark Retirement Community in Brook Park for a 6:30 PM performance. This event is free and open to the public. Please join us.

Are we not beautiful?

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