Thursday, May 30, 2024
Today was my last day of work for this school year. I showed the movie McFarland USA to four sections of 8th grade Spanish students. They watched the first part of the movie on Tuesday with a different sub. I heard from other teachers that they were HORRIBLE for her. They weren’t horrible, but obviously asking them to just sit and watch a movie was more than they were willing to do. I only had to call for administration help during one hour, so I guess that was a win. I was happy to finish the day, and the year.
I went to the dentist and there were turkeys outside the window in the exam room. The hygienist said they have been around a lot lately, and sometimes they fluff up their feathers and walk around in front of the ground level windows and look like they are checking themselves out in the reflections. I was fascinated. They were so much closer than I usually see turkeys and just there, easy to look at.
We went to a 10-minute Play Festival tonight. I was very interested in the fact that the performance greatly impacted my enjoyment of the play. I guess it makes sense, but I thought content would outweigh performance. Or maybe it did, and the mediocre performances (really only one play) were in the mediocre plays.
A Good Fit by Jaclyn Stiller of St. Paul was the first show. Two women met the wrong John in a cafe. One was on a blind date and one was there for a job interview. Quite funny and had a bit of a twist at the end. It was our favorite – but we did wonder if it scored extra “like” because it was first.
Muse v Author by Mark Saunders of Portland, OR, was about a muse come to life hassling an author for a second book. Their disagreement stirred the plot of a new book.
Houses by Lynne Carol Martin from Winnepeg, Manitoba, about a madam visiting the wife of a wealthy businessman to get support for the children of her “girls”. It was the only play not set in the current time. It was our least favorite.
Vanilla Sees the Sky by Bram McGinnis of NYC featured a disagreement between boyfriends about which was worse – pledging to DO something about something, then failing to follow through, or starting and bailing at the last moment. (Vanilla was a chimp in a video – out of her cage for the first time)
Snow Falling Faintly by James McLindon of Northampton, MA. I think the title is weird. I don’t think snow can fall faintly. That is beside the point. A dad and his son are shoveling (and I am not sure non-Minnesotan actors could successfully pull off pantomiming shoveling like these guys did) and talking and sometimes there is a lot to talk about. The two actors were so good, I gave the play more points than I would have otherwise.
Love Forbidden by John McEnerney of Flushing, NY. The three witches from MacBeth were having a chat (while doing some great rhyming) about the youngest being in love with Lady McBeth. That was forbidden. They were good and the play was good.
Fore! by Kathryn Rossetter of Peekskill, NY, brought us a story of three siblings getting ready to bury the cremains of their father. Two of them would like to use an urn shaped like a golf ball. Golf as a metaphor for life was good, but the urn didn’t look much like a golf ball and that distracted me.
Release by FJ Hartland of Johnstown, PA showed us Peter talking to friend, Olive, about the grief he still has for his boyfriend one year later. It was well done, but there was nothing surprising. He is still sad and a bit mad and quite regretful. I just thought was probably true of everyone.
On the Beach by Richard Chin of St Paul was my favorite idea. There was a warning that went out in Hawaii in 2018 that said a ballistic missile was coming in 10 minutes – THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Daniel and Amanda were there and had that life-shaking experience, so that immediately got me on board. An older couple get the message and we experience their “final” ten minutes. It was so trite – I was so disappointed. The man wants to have sex; the wife indicates she has no interest in ever having sex. The man admits to a fling; the wife already knows. They argue about not knowing what to do. There is not positive connection between them at all, then the error is reported, and they go back to the room to have sex. Heh, heh, heh. So lame. When I write a better version, I will let you know.
Once Upon a Dream by Bridgette Dutta Portman of Fremont, CA was set in a Rip Van Winkle’s Sleep Disorder Clinic’s waiting room. Sleeping Beauty, The Princess and the Pea girl, and Goldilocks are waiting. If taking fairy tale people out of their stories was a new thing, this would have been the best one. That in itself isn’t very clever anymore, but the dialog was top notch, and Goldie’s snarky comments on the other two were terrific. Also, everyone lived happily ever after…
And happy anniversary!!!
Thank you!