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The Play's the Thing
Chapter 2: Dramatis Personae
…they have their exits and their entrances…
I do not want to talk about how I got two more girls to be in the play. I really don't. As it turned out, every girl in the lodging house wanted to be the star of a Vaudeville play. Lucky me, right? It took some time, but I finally narrowed it down to four, and after much decision making (better known as eeney meeney miney moe), it was down to two: Lindsey McDonnell and Jessa Rhian. I guess I choose them because they were the most outgoing, so I figured they'd be okay on stage.
Okay, and maybe the fact that they were my best friends.
August 22 was the first day Medda asked us to come to the theater to begin rehearsal. It ended up being all about casting as Medda figured out whom she wanted playing what role. It occurred to me that Medda has zero experience as a director. She's a performer; what more can you really ask of her? In all fairness, it was her idea to have this play in the first place. But really…
"Okay, everyone, are you all excited for this play?" Medda shouted in an effort to get all of us excited. Cheers filled the room, indicating that everyone was eager to begin.
I wondered if they even knew a single thing about Shakespeare, like the fact that he rambles on for pages and pages in a language which is almost impossible to comprehend. That is, unless you were well-versed and studied in the fancy language from the Elizabethan time. And don't think I know all about the guy's work; that was just what Medda had told me in her attempts to convince me that I was indeed capable of memorizing lines.
I hadn't told her that it really wasn't so much the memorizing as it was the stage issue. I wasn't exactly a huge fan of being in front of many people, but I could overcome it if it means spending mass amounts of time with the newsies- without getting in trouble for it. Just as I was picturing the time I would be spending with David, Medda's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Through the times I've met each of you and the descriptions that your friends gave of you all, I've come up with a cast list that I think will work," Medda said, and, if you didn't know any better, you might actually think she knew what she was doing.
However, I truly doubted Medda knew enough about any of us besides maybe Jack and me to fairly cast us. It didn't really matter though, because as far as I knew no one really cared too much about how we got our roles. She could have told us that a monkey chose our parts and we would have been okay with that.
"I've decided to narrow the play down a bit, which included cutting some of the parts. All the main characters are still in, of course. I'll begin with the girls' parts, and then we'll move onto the leads," Medda explained.
She quickly gave us girls our roles: Lindsey as Hermia, Sarah as Titania, and I the part of Helena. Although we hadn't so much as even looked at the script yet, Medda gave us a brief overview of our characters. Basically, Hermia was short and feisty. Helena was a little desperate and taller than Hermia. Titania was the queen of the faeries. I found myself stifling a giggle at that thought. Sarah was sure to be thrilled. When I glanced over at her, the disgusted look on her face confirmed what I had guessed.
Medda didn't take notice of any of our reactions, and told us that we would find out more about their relationships later. She wanted to wait until everyone had their parts. She continued to say that there were four faeries, and she wanted Jessa to play all four. Jessa's eyes widened as Medda spoke. Medda had wanted my best friend to play faeries who had multiple personality disorder. Great. Apparently, Medda continued, they were easy to combine into one part, and Medda hadn't wanted to find three other girls or ask three guys to compromise their masculinity for a role in a play. From what I've heard about Shakespeare, he had boys play girls anyway, even in the lovers' roles. I guess it was a reflection of his own life.
Medda handed the four of us a script and sent us to the side to skim over it. Of course, I did not have the ability to simply ignore what was going on around me, so I watched the boys receive their parts. Jessa and Lindsey joined me in observing, but Sarah's glance alternated between Jack and Medda. I thought she was probably gauging how interested Jack was in Medda. I could see why the green-eyed monster possessed her; Jack wore a cheesy grin directed at the performer. He still hung on her every word as she called out each boy's name, making sure that no one was missing.
They exchanged nervous glances as anticipation filled them. I could understand; it was exciting and nerve-wracking to find out what would be your role. Medda soon answered all their questions as she began the list.
"As I said before, I'll announce the leads first," Medda repeated herself. "Jack!"
"Yes?" He responded, attempting to be charming. Not that that was a far stretch for suave Jack.
"You will be Lysander. Mush, you will be Demetrius."
The process continued until all ten boys had their parts. To be honest, I let my mind wander after the first two, but Medda let me look at her paper with the cast list to see who was which character.
Dramatis Personae
Lysander (in love with Hermia)----------Jack
Demetrius (in love with Hermia)----------Mush
Helena (in love with Demetrius)-----------Christine
Hermia (daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander)------Lindsey
Oberon (king of the faeries)----------Spot
Titania (queen of the faeries)----------Sarah
Puck (or Robin Goodfellow, serves Oberon)----------Skittery
Faeries (serves Titania)----------Jessa
Bottom (a weaver)----------David
Quince (a carpenter)----------Specs
Flute (a bellows-mender)----------Kid Blink
Snug (a joiner)----------Crutchy
Egeus (father to Hermia)----------Racetrack
Thesus (Duke of Athens)-----------Bumlets
As I scanned the list, I reread the descriptions. My character was honestly in love with Mush's character? And his character and Jack's character were in love with Lindsey? And Spot was a fairy king? Yea, Medda knew us really well.
I handed Medda's list back to her as she gathered us all together to discuss the play further. Everyone was still trying to comprehend what their characters were, and I could see the disappointment on Sarah's face when she found out she wasn't Jack's love interest. Not only that, she was a fairy queen to Spot the fairy king.
Medda regained our focus with a quick shout of "Quiet!" She then explained the play in the most basic summary she could come up with:
"Hermia and Lysander are in love, but Hermia's father Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena is in love with Demetrius. Oberon and Titania are in love,"
I again considered that I loved Mush. He was definitely attractive and sweet. But his character loved Lindsey. Oh well, so far David isn't attached to anyone.
Cutting Medda short, Jack interrupted her, "Spot's character is in love with Sarah's?"
Annoyed, Medda sighed and explained. "Yes, Jack. It's a Shakespeare play. He wrote about love stories. Anyway, Oberon and Titania are in love, but they constantly fight."
Medda emphasized the last word for Jack and paused to allow for any further protests. Seeming satisfied with that fact that they fought, Jack simply nodded for her to continue.
"Oberon over hears the lover's problems and asks his servant, Puck, to sprinkle a magical love juice in their eyes so that when they wake up, they will fall in love with the first live creature that they see.
Skittery is playing Spot's servant? I don't know them too well, but with what Jack and David have told me, I don't see that being a good mix.
"Puck follows the orders, but accidentally mixes them up. Lysander and Demetrius both fall in love with Helena and want nothing to do with Hermia. Hermia is rightfully angry, and Helena thinks it is all a trick to spite her.
Great, I'm playing a paranoid, insane girl with two crazy people in love with her. What's better is that Mush and Jack are the ladies men of the group. And they both want me! Or their characters want my character…
"Meanwhile, Bottom, Flute, and Snug are preparing a play under Quince's direction. They plan to perform Pyramus and Thisbe, a well-known play from Shakespeare's time. Bottom, however, acts like quite a Prima Donna. Puck witnesses this and turns him into a donkey, because he is such an ass."
David is playing someone who turns into an ass? David, as an ass? Well, he was going to be a showgirl. David, the showgirl with an ass. I let that thought roll around in my head as I glanced at David. His brow was furrowed as if he was trying to understand how he got cast as an ass. I was sure I could come up with a good explanation for him if he couldn't figure it out for himself.
Meanwhile, Medda was still continuing with her explanation. "On the other side of the forest, Titania is angry after her fight with Oberon. She has her fairies sing her to sleep. Finding Titania and wanting to mess with her, Oberon sprinkles the love juice into her sleeping eyes. However, when Titania awakes, the first thing she lays eyes on is Bottom as an ass. She then falls madly in love with Bottom."
Sarah has to fall in love with David? No way. No fucking way.
"Eventually, Oberon decides to set things straight and fixes all the spells so that he and Titania are again in love, Hermia and Lysander are in love, and Helena and Demetrius are in love.
So I do end up with Mush. Interesting.
"Finally, Quince and his actors perform their play in front of the lovers, who do not enjoy it and make fun of it. In the end, everyone leaves and Puck delivers a final speech."
As Medda finishes, I can tell that everyone's minds are spinning. We had just heard a two hour play in two minutes, and there was a lot to comprehend. Not to mention that we were all listening for our character's name to be mentioned. From the overview, I gathered that Medda was correct in her original description to me: Helena was a desperate whore.
So now that we all had our roles and knew the story of the play, proper rehearsals could begin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lindsey McDonnell/Apple belongs to Lute. Jessa Rhian/Stress belongs to Stress. Thanks girls! And I really did choose those because they were the most outgoing according to the descriptions. Hermia really is supposed to be short, so that's why Lindsey got it. Stress, I just love seeing Jessa being four different characters. Bear with me. I'll try to get her in there more.
Points to anyone who can recognize the Shakespeare reference inside the story that isn't referring to A Midsummer Night's Dream. And points to anyone who knows the next part of Jacques speech. And for that matter, points to anyone who even knows what I'm talking about. Which, for disclaimer's sake, Shakespeare still owns.
I know that the plot hasn't completely started yet; there is a lot of introduction stuff before it can start. You can't have cast bonding and rehearsals unless you know what you're doing! Thanks guys, please review. Reviews make me happy ;).
Thanks again to my beta readers!
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