Shakespeare at St. Vivian's

Last Saturday we celebrated the much anticipated Shakespeare party at St. Vivian’s, complete with an Elizabethan feast and a full reading of Midsummer Night’s Dream. All this Smith siblings were in attendance and several guests, including Blessed Mother, the honors girls, and the most natural Bottom that ever might open a script. The food (prepared jointly by Kylie, J, and B. Mother) was exquisite: turkey and chicken drumsticks, lentil soup, Yorkshire pudding, homemade bread with butter and quince jam, apple pies, cookies, cheeses, spiced juice, and wine. We drew parts at random (I was Theseus) and read the play in just under two and a half hours, perhaps even less if Baby H hadn’t been toddling from plate to plate begging for leftovers. (She spent the night with us Friday.) I was struck by several items during the reading of the play:

-The whole of act five flows much better when being read aloud with different voice than when being read privately

-My brothers and sister all possess a knack for reading aloud; I don’t know how much of it is their stage training (which I missed out on completely) or natural dramatic timing, but they switch from role to role with great ease.

-If I were to ever publish an edition of Shakespeare I would make sure to include a pronunciation guide for the classical references. Accent and pronunciation were quite good on all the English words, even from those with little reading experience; but the Roman gods tripped everyone up.

-Vaward? I still haven’t any idea how to say it or what it means.

-This sort of reading reminds me of what I think chamber music used to be like. There is a definite showcase of skill and “performance,” but one is completely comfortable in the company as well. It still feels closer to the family dinner table than to the recital hall.

Today reading Cicero, Il 3, Is 52, Matt 5, and Wives and Daughters. At CPC yesterday the sermon topic was the Lord’s Prayer; the poor Presbyterians couldn’t even get beyond Our Father, which they attempted to turn into something more egalitarian. Today I am teaching middle school flute students with telephone assistance from J; I never did learn my trill fingerings.

A toast to Shakespeare night!