September 1
Tuesday’s session marked the first session of a new Shakespeare season, and after a summer spent creating and performing original work, the ensemble returned to Shakespeare with curiosity, humor, and a willingness to experiment.
After check-in and the ring, we shifted our attention toward the season ahead. Before jumping directly into King Lear, we spent the evening exploring monologues and scenes from several Shakespeare plays, giving ensemble members the opportunity to try characters, discover objectives, and simply play.
One participant began with Lear himself. I challenged her to move into the center of the circle and imagine the storm raging around her as she performed. When she finished, her response was simple: “It felt great.”
Another participant chose a speech from Hamlet. At first, she was uncertain about what the character wanted and why he was speaking. After discussing the circumstances of the scene, she found a deeply personal connection to the text. “It stirred the need for acceptance, forgiveness, shame, it felt like praying,” she reflected. Kyle then challenged her to read it again, “but this time you are not able to pray.” Suddenly, the same words carried an entirely different urgency.
The evening became even more energetic when two participants put a scene from Romeo and Juliet on its feet. After their first attempt, one said, “It felt good,” while the other added, “It felt good. It felt right.”
Kyle encouraged them to fight harder for their objectives, and they immediately tried it again. The difference was palpable. Their energy rose, their connection sharpened, and the scene became more alive. After another attempt, one participant reflected, “The third time was better,” while her scene partner described the experience with a single word: “Exhilarated.”
The scene was so much fun that one participant joked about our play selection choice, “Why didn’t we pick this one?” before quickly returning to the season ahead. “I’m excited for King Lear. There’s a lot of women’s parts. Maybe I won’t have to play a man.”
The discoveries continued with Lady Macbeth. One participant leaned into the character’s anger and came away surprised by how strongly she felt it. “I got ‘goosies’ bringing out her anger,” she said. After discussing her objective, she tried the speech again while Kyle and another participant drummed increasingly louder as the monologue built, giving her something physical and rhythmic to push against.
Another participant tackled Macbeth’s famous dagger speech. On her second attempt, I used my pen for her to imagine as the dagger moving around her, giving her something tangible to focus on as she worked through the text. Afterward she reflected, “It was interesting.”
Kyle eventually stepped into the work himself, performing Benvolio. When he noted that it was difficult to play the scene without the bodies described in the text physically present, the ensemble immediately adapted. Two participants became the dead bodies and another stepped in as Romeo, transforming what had been an imagined circumstance into something Kyle could actually respond to.
Even in our first session back with Shakespeare, the ensemble’s signature humor was never far away. As we talked about King Lear and revisited the possibility of ending the tragedy with “Thriller,” Kyle joked about doing the Cupid Shuffle. One participant responded, “I can meet half-way.”
Later, an ensemble member performed the Ghost from Hamlet in a Southern accent. Her explanation was perfectly fitting: “I have to make y’all laugh. It’s so serious.”
That humor carried into memories of the summer project, when she recalled planning a funny voice for Boaz. “I told her ‘I’m gonna surprise you as Boaz—’” she began, before Kyle jumped in: “By sticking to the script?”
The room erupted.
As much as the evening was about Shakespeare, it was also about rediscovering how this ensemble approaches Shakespeare: seriously, playfully, collaboratively, and without fear of trying something unexpected. Each time someone stood up to perform, the group responded with questions, encouragement, laughter, and new ideas.
We ended the night talking about King Lear, the summer performance, and movies before returning to the ring together.
There is still a long way to go before this year’s production takes shape, but the first night offered an exciting glimpse of what is possible. Participants were already taking risks, challenging one another, and discovering that Shakespeare’s words can change dramatically depending on how you approach them.
For the first session of a new season, it felt good.
It felt right.
September 3
Unfortunately due to the severe weather conditions – tornadoes, thunderstorms and flooding – we made the decision to cancel session tonight for everyone’s safety. We are excited to resume sessions on Tuesday!