"Now is the woodcock near the gin."

Suzanne Irving, who plays Queen Elizabeth in Richard III and Maria in Twelfth Night this season, came to our class today. I enjoyed her company very much. She spoke a great deal about the collaborative process she experienced with the directors of OSF. I hope that one day I will be esteemed enough to be invited into such a collaborative company.

At noon, I attended a lecture regarding The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus with David Riggs from Stanford University. I do not believe that I will understand all of what he spoke of until I see the play on Saturday. I think that this main point was the stress that the audience must buy into the idea of fate in the same way audiences of the time would have. His principle idea regarding Fautus is that he is damned from the beginning and has no way of attaining salvation. I wish that I had written more notes, but I stopped regarding Riggs as a scholar when he said that Marlowe was a better playwright than Shakespeare. I will believe that when I see it! I heard quite a bit of murmuring during this topic of choice.

Nicole and I then ventured into the park. However the heat was so extreme today that I thought I might pass out. We didn’t make it far before we turned back and decided to leave the excursion for another time.

We then decided to go to a movie (probably more for the air conditioning then the movie itself). We saw Mad Hot Ballroom. I had no idea what the movie was about when we entered the theatre. It turned out to the be a documentary about teaching public school children in the New York to dance. I appreciated the effort, but the film was not well put together.

Around 8:00 PM we made our way to the Elizabethan stage to see Twelfth Night. It was everything I thought it would be and absolutely wonderful. I enjoyed myself very much. I cannot believe how new the actors made the play for me. It was off the page and into my imagination in very little time. Up at the top of the set was a beautiful golden boat on a weather vane that changed direction with the passing of each scene. Sir Andrew Aguecheek was my favorite by far. He brought excitement to the stage infused with raw humor. Tomorrow is our last day in Ashland. I will miss it terribly.