Friday night was the Silver Moth Ball at Mind the Gap.
The event went so well! It was definitely a success.
We celebrated Mind the Gap's 25th anniversary.
Acting Company members Jez, Joanne, and Alan, and staff members Joyce and Lisa performed pieces from one of Mind the Gap's latest shows (and their recent tour of Switzerland), Irresistible. Jez had written all the songs himself.
Acting Company and Making Theatre members Liam, Anna, Blake, Lorraine, Jack, and Alison, interacted with the guests as Echo and Narcissus.
The newest fundraising project also got underway.
Everyone was dressed to the nines! It was such a treat to meet the parents and friends of the Making Theatre students and the Acting Company members, as well as the other patrons of Mind the Gap.
The work and dedication that everyone had been putting in to making this event a success for the past three weeks (and even longer) definitely paid off.
Now that Moth Ball's over, I can't wait to see what we do this next week!
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| Liam, Vince, and Laura |
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| Back row (L to R): Laura, Joanne, Jack Front row: Alan, Zara, Lorrane, Anna |
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| Rob and Chris drawing the raffle winners |
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| With Joanne, Jack, and Melissa, who's one of the volunteers |
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| Alan's shoes and mine! Alan's shoes were hands--er, feet-- down my favorite wardrobe piece at Moth Ball. |
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| In Studio 2, Mind the Gap sold pictures of events past as well as memorabilia |
Early the next morning, I hopped on the train to Stratford-upon-Avon.
There, I got to meet up with Drs. Michael and Laura O'Hara! (For anyone who doesn't know, I'm Dr. Michael O's student assistant at Ball State)
They were in the UK for the International Shaw Society Conference (Michael O is the president), as well as a bit of a holiday.
They very generously took me under wing for the weekend, and it was great to get to meet up with them and explore the town.
In addition to seeing Shakespeare's birthplace, burial place, and daughter's house (the first and last being recreations, but fascinating none the less), we had tickets to see As You Like It at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Here's what I have to say about that performance: WOW.
It was definitely one of the best, if not the best, production of Shakespeare's work any of us had ever seen, from the acting to the design to the concept.
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| The RSC also does courtyard performances (this was A Midsummer Night's Dream) |
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| The Bard's grave |
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| The Church of the Holy Trinity, where Shakespeare's tomb is |
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| The River Avon |
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| Shakespeare's birthplace |
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| Recreation of the glovemaker's shop where John Shakespeare (Will's dad) would have worked |
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| Replication of the interior of the room where William Shakespeare would have been born |
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| Okay, this is homage to my Voice Studios: these Patsy Rodenburg books were in the gift shop at Shakespeare's birthplace. |
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| "Shakespeare Out Loud" at his birthplace |
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| Statues on the grounds at the New House, where Shakespeare lived in the last years of his life |
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| River Avon |
