Since new people joined the group today, we began by introducing ourselves and talking about what we each bring to the group and what we hope to get out of the experience. Returning members described what the program has been like for them. We then went through the guidelines that the group came up with last week and explained how we came up with them. Everyone present agreed that the guidelines are reasonable, and they like them. We then did some warm ups and played a few games to get to know each other better and get comfortable around each other. The group did very well with everything, really diving in and committing to what they were doing even when they felt silly.
Then I distributed copies of “What a piece of work is a man…” since the group last session did so well with it, and it’s been a long time since those who have worked with it have done anything with it. The group did very well breaking it down and figuring out what everything meant and what Hamlet is talking about and feeling in the piece. I asked if anyone wanted to get up and perform it, and of course the participant who did Othello’s monologue in the last session volunteered. She is fearless now!
Unfortunately before we could get into an in-depth discussion about her performance and then get some other people up on stage, the group got side tracked into talking about some logistical questions about the times of the class and issues some of them may have with attending for the entire length of each session. This is an issue that we are going to deal with in the next few sessions, and it may be that the commitment is too much for some of them. It’s going to take a little while to get a solid group again, but that is par for the course. I hope that at least some of them stick with it. They all have great energy and positive attitudes, and they seem eager for the experience.