play on: through the wardrobe story circle + votes for women
a theatrical february
this month, i got to see two shows here in greenville, sc. (only because the weekend i could see rainbow fish, well, we were all snowed in!) but even if i missed one of the three, these two were incredible!
my author pal ruthie and i had amazing orchestra seats; right in front of the sound booth! thank you, peace center!!
as someone said at bookclub last night: "if you want me to learn something, sing it at me."
and OH my GAWRsH did i learn a lot (with a fat smile and a few tears on my face) tuesday night at SUFFS at the peace center.
i knew NothinG coming into the show: except for "purple" and i was pretty sure it was amendment XIX (thanks to a purple blackwing pencil i got once!)
anyway: THIS WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE SHOW I'VE SEEN in a long time.
i'd sum it up with: "crisp simplicity."
you know i love a razzle-dazzle sparklefest of tap-dancing group-number choreographed belty show, but this was just.... BEAUTIFUL.
it was an all-female cast. (yes, even playing the roles of the men; take that "original practice style" shakespearean-england where are the roles were filled by men! ha!)
and particularly the two leads: MARYA GRANDY and MAYA KELEHER -- oh, my goodness.
i usually have to have the OBCR memorized to be able to follow the lyrics of a live show, but the voices of all these women: crisp. clear. gorgeous.
the melodies and anthems were hamilton-esque in the sweeping numbers of standing up to the powers that be. and the powers we women are still trying to fight.
(with further hints of matilda, the witches in the scottish play, and a couple times gerwig's barbie, but i love a stew of popculture joy!)
while i don't have space (or time before my work shift begins) to pontificate on the deft handling of even more challenging topics the show covered, all i can do is IMPLORE you to go see the show if you can.
the pillars and color-coded backscreen. the costumes. the orchestra! and THE VOICES.
the voices of our great-great-great-great grandmothers still cheering us on to keep marching.
ugh. i get chills still typing that.
to be honest: i didn't know it was such a battle. silent protesters arrested. decadeeeesssss of trying to woo MEN in government to "let mother vote." i just kinda thought it was like, they made a law change! yay! now we fight for equal rights for black americans.
NOPE. it was decades of lobbying, then a women's march, and silent protests, and hunger strikes and beatings in prison... so thank you, ladies of the past.
i've never taken my right to VOTE for granted. but now i feel it in deeply my bones. in my ancestral history of generations before.
THANK you, peace center. thank you SUFFS cast and crew.
i'm bewildered at your talent and the joy and strength you brought to our stage.
teachers: take your classes. grown*ups: take your littles.
learn and revel in the power that has come before and be inspired for the generations ahead.
(also always fun to learn what a turd*head woodrow wilson was. but why am i even surprised?) ;)
THIS GIRL knows it was WORTH IT.
through the wardrobe…
the narnia set definitely gave me “the last bookshop” (out in L.A.) vibes… and i was here for the transportive magic!
i’m glad i’d gotten tickets back in january for nathan & my belated valentine’s date because even though they extended the show TWO MORE WEEKENDS, every performance sold OUT!
this production of the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe was held in the (sorta) blackbox theatre of the south carolina children’s theatre. it was a TWO-PERSON cast… and only 45-minutes long.
what i thought they’d done SO well was the “story circle.” everytime they were out of the circle, they were telling the story. every time they were “in” the circle: they were being the characters.
there was a gorgeous over-sized Aslan mask. the witch was the OppOSiTE of lucy in mannerisms and voice (and totally scary); and i loved the script for it’s simplicity.
the wardobe spun, and the spotlight on the other side took us through the fur coats and into winter…. v. effectively. and never underestimate the power of a hat (or a pair of glasses) to signify a new character. because that’s the essence of theatre, too: communal storytelling. everyone’s collective imaginations filling in the gaps, and rejoicing together in the suspension of disbelief for the sake of the story. and i sure hope humanity never, ever loses that joy!
i am OBSESSED with how accomodating the south carolina children’s theatre is for all kinds of audience members. there were rugs on the floor for kids to lay on their bellies or sit criss-cross-applesauce if parents knew they wouldn’t make it in a theatre seat. and scct has the most neurodivergent-friendly and differently-abled accessible theatre in the city. they do countless performances for schools at all income brackets and are here doing the good Lord’s work of making ART and THEATRE accessible and non-stuffy for all.
i’m kind of obsessed.
AND: personal anecdote: also taking advantage of their outreach program this winter of ADULT ACTING CLASSES! eep! my teacher has been teaching theatre for 40+ years and has a friggin’ TONY AWARD in theatre education! whaaaat?!? i’m performing a monologue next month and yeah, have already been having nightmares about it for weeks. ha!
and the moST interesting thing about my acting class? just how INcreDIBLY similar the craft is to WRITING. it’s uncanny.)
what shall my theatrical outings be in march? hopefully The Great Gatsby at the peace center…!
there’s a million and twenty places on the wishlist to see across the country (r&j is shakespeare in the park in nyc this year! i’d love to see a show at the folger in d.c.; dream trips also include adventures to the oregon shakespeare fest or the one in canada; there’s broadway in all its glory, of course; the blackfriars theatre at the american shakespeare center in virginia; and i even learned there’s a shakespeare pub/theatre in atlanta, ga?!!) how’s a gal to take it all in in one lifetime?? : )
your resident theatre ghost,
xo,
*hallie :)