Scenes and Monologs

Yesterday we had our performance of the scenes and monologue high school group at Theatricum. Camp was really different than the previous years, and yet it was still really fun! I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It was a good mix of fun theater games, Shakespearean life and vocal warm ups.

I didn't know anything about the play "Twelfth Night" from which my monologue is from. I had heard that it was a fun play and I was excited to work on my monologue. We found out that we would be spilt into three groups for our monologues, each would be working with a different director. I would be working with Aaron, which I was reasonably happy about. I've had Aaron as a fencing teacher for many years now. He's one of the teachers that I've known the longest. We started out by reading our monologues on stag in front of everyone else in our group. I was un-happy that Ventana was not in my group, but I was also looking forward to getting to know new people. I began to read the monologue the way I thought I would be said, in a sort of comedic, storytelling way. Aaron stopped me and asked if I knew what the monologue was about. In the end, it turned out that it was in the opposite direction as how I had originally interpreted it.

I was extremely excited to work on my scene, not only because Ventana was in my group, but also because my director was Mike, who is probably my favorite director. He did our last two plays in the youth camp, which have both been great. We all read threw our scenes, then began to block them. It was harder than I expected. I didn't seem to have enough emotion. Besides, my partner was nowhere near the man of my dreams. It was challenging, to say the least. And then there was Mike, he was still my favorite, but he wasn't as cheerful and friendly as before. He was in a bad mood.

We continued to work on the scenes and monologues. The later was going very well, Aaron said I was doing great and I felt good about it. My scene was the opposite. My partner Max would spit when he talked and it often times landed on my face. He would get to close and I would have to step back, which didn't work when I was supposed to love him. Mike's bad mood continued, and over all, it wasn't quite going according to plan. Ventana was also having trouble with her scene. She didn't like her partner Brogan at all, and she had to get thrown to the ground, which she didn't enjoy.

As the weeks past, I made some great friends, old and new. I have known Corinne since we did "Shakespeare's Magic" six years ago, but this is the first year I became good friends with her. We get along really well. She's really nice and likes to talk, which is nice on those mornings when all you want to do is listen. Since she loves to bake she decided to bring different cookies everyday to camp. She brought tons of tasty treats like apple oatmeal cookies, or Russian tea cakes, or chocolate cookies cooked around a Hersey's kiss. They were all very very yummy. I can't wait to visit her bakery once she gets one!

Another friend I made was Julia. I first I thought Julia was one of the annoying girls who I never get along with, but I soon got to know her and found that I got along with her quite well. She is really sweet and has a gentle way about her. Although she is going into twelfth grade, she didn't feel any older. She was in my scene group and soon we became good friends. She to had a scene partner who she was not very happy about. I'm happy because Julia is in Taming of the Shrew with me, so I will see her again soon!

In the end, all is well that ends well.

We had a great performance. I did my scene better than ever and my monologue was very good! I had a ton of fun and I will miss everyone a lot!