heidikins.com

I’m a nerd and a snob. No really. I am.

It is a well established fact that I can be a total nerd.  And a snob.  And I feel like my complete love and adoration for all things Shakespeare is a pretty good summation of both of those traits.

My weekend Adventure started at o-dark-hundred in the morning, I picked up Andrea and we headed south towards Cedar City, UT for the Utah Shakespearean Festival.  On the docket: Henry V, performed in the fantastically reproduced Globe Theatre at Southern Utah University.  People, it was a-may-zing!  We managed to score fairly decent tickets for closing night and had even studied up on the play the week before, watching the Kenneth Branagh film-version and read along–she in her book, me on my fancy-pants phone–to make sure we understood all the plot points.  (By the way, this version was released in 1989 and I’m pretty sure was one of Christian Bale’s first films…he’s The Boy and he’s handsome, even in 1989.)  Andrea was so kind as to translate all the French bits for me, which was fantstic.  My memory of junior high French has somethig to do with a massive crush on a blonde boy in my class and a teacher who moonlighted as a country western star.

I don’t reall know how I can explain how much I loved watching Henry V.  The play follows Henry V, Prince of Wales and King of England as he takes over France.  There are battles and a whole slew of side characters that will inspire you or make you laugh.  Henry V uncovers several treasonous plots against him and has the scurvy knaves put to death to preserve his country.  He loves his people and on the eve of their big battle against the far more numerous French army, he prays for them in one of the more moving speeches I remember seeing live.  Brian Vaughn plays Henry V and after about 2 minutes I not only had decided that he was better than Kenneth Branagh, but I also had a huge HUGE crush on him.  Oh my goodness, that man can act!  Swoon!  (See: heidikins is a nerd.)

Now, some of you may know that I volunteer at a local high school in their theatre department.  I am kind of a “Jack/Jill of all trades”, I direct, I design costumes, I make costumes, I boss high school kids around…it’s great fun.  I’ve been doing this for three years and have absolutely loved it.

That being said, as part of the Utah Shakespearean Festival there is a high school competition that goes along with it–I have coached a team with my best friend–who is the theatre teacher at this particular high school–the last two years and they have brought home a lot of trophy-hardware and some amazing memories.  The Shakespeare adventure for this year started over the weekend and our first meeting is this afternoon, and I’m thrilled.  Admittedly, I’m probably still on a Henry V-Brian Vaughn-induced high, but I am really excited for this next adventure.  We compete in mid-October and there is a TON of work to do between now and then, the least of which is turning 45 high school students into warring Greek and Trojan soldiers, fighting to the death during the Trojan War.  (Yes, Shakespeare wrote about the Trojan War, it’s all in Troilus & Cressida.  Unfortunately, Brad Pitt will probably not be making an appearance.)  I’m scared, I’m not gonna lie.  That’s a lot of armor and a lot of swords given to minors.

So, I’m curious–do you like Shakespeare?  Can you name more than 3 Shakespeare plays?  Does your knowledge of The Bard extent past Leonardo DiCaprio and Mel Gibson?  Am I out on my own here?  Someone, please admit you are as nerdy and snobby as I am and actually like Shakespeare.  Anyone?

18 Comments so far
Leave a comment