Web Diary
Show: Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
Role: Polonius (Minister to the King, Father of Ophelia and Laertes.)
Producer: Shady Shakespeare
Week 7: Marching Toward Hell Week
There is now less than two weeks to go before Hamlet opens for all to see and there is still a lot of work ahead! This week we worked both Act 1 and Act 2 and had a full run through on Friday which was for the most part completely off book. The show seems to be running at about 2 1/2 hours with one intermission. We will certainly be able to take some time off of that.
Of course our week was not complete without some drama. Our costumer, who is under a lot of pressure, put out an ill adived e-mail that essentially told the cast that we had to find someone to sew our costumes. Needless to say this did not go over well, and many of the cast (yours truly included) tok exception. But our director soon smoothed things over.
Also, in a sad bit of news the husband of one of the board members died suddenly. I never met the man but his loss was felt by several members of the cast and crew and his passing was taken hard by many of them. Our Director, who was very close with the gentleman and his wife was particularly hard hit and had to take the day off. Our rehearsal continued under the watchful eye of our Asst. Director. One of the Artstic Associates explained the situation to the cast before rehearsal.
Death is never an easy subject and how we deal with it differes from one person to the next. I have never been one to show much grief. This is partially due to the fact that with most cases of death in my life I have been in the position of having to be the strong one and take care of things. Another part of the reason is I feel that the grief we feel at such time is really more a matter feeling for those left behind then those who have passed on. We grieve because we miss the person, miss the time we spent with them, their friendship and steady presence in our lives. In the end, it is we who still live who ahve to adjust our lives to a new reality.
We may lament an untimely death, but do we lament it for the deceased or for our own missed opportunities to be with them? I always feel for those who have lost a loved one, but I have not in my life been able bring myself to grieve for those who have passed on I personally believe that when a peson passes on they do not leave us behind. That a part of them always remains with us. The cliche is that they are in a better place. I do not know if that is true but I do believe they have moved on to a new level of existence and that this is a trip we all will take eventually.
My grandparents were all quite old when they passed on, having lived remarkable lives. May father passed away when he was 60, however, he had been only a small part fo my life for the last ten years of his, that I could not feel anything near grief. I have lost some friends along the way and while their loss was unfortunate, each time, at the memorial services, I found myself thinking more about what wonderful people they had been and how lucky I was to know them. I find that at times such as these I tend to honor and celebrate life more than grieve for death. On the surface this may tend to make me appear cold to others at such times, but I hope they realize that is not the case.
Here ends the philosophical ramblings.
Next week Hell Week and Opening Night!
See ya next week,
Ross Arden Harkness