Day #550 Much Ado About Nothing

Friday night I took one of my grandsons, the 12-year-old, to the New American Shakespeare Tavern to see Much Ado About Nothing, which just happens to be my very favorite Shakespearean comedy.

The Shakespeare Tavern is in the process of producing every single one of Shakespeare’s comedies in the order in which they were written. Much Ado was the 7^th of Willie’s 12 comedies.

Seeing the familiar scenes and hearing the familiar words had an extra bit of magic as I saw Ethan absorb the wonder of it all.

If you don’t live in the Atlanta area, and if you don’t plan to visit in the next few weeks, there’s a very good Kenneth Branagh / Emma Thompson movie of the play -- but, all in all, I like the Tavern version better.

So much so, that I plan to see it again.

BEEattitude for Day #550:

       Blessed are those who give their best effort every time they fly, for they shall bring forth the best nectar.

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The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #494

Friday evening I took two of my grandchildren to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern to see Romeo and Juliet. More than 400 years since that play was first performed, and it’s still wringing tears from audiences.

Every time I see it, I hear at least two or three lines I could swear I’d never heard before.

I’ve noticed a change over the years, though. When I was in my twenties and thirties, I got caught up in the tragedy of the story.

In my forties and fifties, I studied the emotional makeup of the various characters.

Now that I’m in my sixties, I want to take those two youngsters and shake them. 

     “Tell your father, Juliet. He likes Romeo; he’ll holler a bit, and then he’ll say okay.”

     “Romeo, listen to the Friar, for heaven’s sake. ‘A pack of blessings light upon your head.’ Juliet’s alive, you’re alive, you’ve been banished when you could have been executed. All will be well.”

Or, all would have been well, if Romeo hadn’t gone nuts with useless grief and killed himself.

Of course, if those two teenagers had listened to the voice of reason, we wouldn’t have had a play that lasted 400 years.

I guess it’s just as well. 

BEEattitude for Day #494:

       Blessed are those who write well, for they shall live long through their words.

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The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #489 Theater Week

What an amazing week this is turning out to be.

Yesterday I went with my dear friend Millie Woollen to the Aurora Theater in Lawrenceville to see Body of Water. I hadn’t known anything about the show ahead of time. We both have season tickets, so we just show up regardless of what’s playing.

Body of Water turned out to be a moving, disturbing, challenging, funny, sad, excruciating play about memory loss. I came out of it determined more than ever to appreciate each moment of my life.

Later on this week I’ll be going to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern to see Romeo and Juliet TWICE. The first time will be with my daughter and two of my grandchildren--the two pre-teens. I love watching their enthusiasm over the way the actors carry them along through the story.

And then, a couple of days after that, I’ll go back to the Tavern to see the show again with Millie. We both are Club Ticket Holders, which means we see every show there, too. And, because I like to take my grandkids, sometimes I see the shows twice.

There’s something about live theater -- good live theater -- that simply cannot be explained to someone who’s never seen it. I have on occasion seen the same Shakespeare play three or four times in the same month, and it has different nuances every single time. The Shakespeare Tavern is an “Original Practice Playhouse,” which means that they perform the plays as Shakespeare’s company did, with the actors acknowledging the presence of the audience. That means that the mood of the audience -- always a variable from night to night -- determines in part how the show “feels” that evening.

If you’re ever in the Atlanta area, do yourself a favor. Take in some live theater! I’ll vouch for these two outfits any day.

BEEattitude for Day #489:

       Blessed are those who work at what they love, for they shall spread joy in their wake.

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The teeny details:

my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart 

Day #369 The Scottish Play

I must admit, I was relieved when the three weird sisters in Macbeth chanted around their cauldron Friday night at the Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta. Despite the many times I’ve seen that play, parts of it still surprise me.

This year, because bees have been so much on my mind, I was somewhat nervous waiting for the “double, double, toil and trouble” speech. I knew they threw “scale of dragon” and “root of hemlock” into the pot, along with a number of other extremely odious, nasty things, but I couldn’t remember – had they thrown in various parts of a bee as well?

I’m happy to report, they didn’t. Bee parts would have sweetened their brew, I’m sure, and Shakespeare couldn’t have had that happen.

My two 11-year-old grandchildren were entranced. The porter’s silly speech, the sword fights, the sleepwalking scene.

If you’ve never seen the Scottish Play, as it’s called in the superstitious theater, where speaking the name of that play aloud is considered bad luck, I strongly recommend it. It speaks to this time as powerfully as it did to the Elizabethans. The corrupting influence of power seems, unfortunately, to be as timeless as Shakespeare’s dialogue.

BEEattitude for Day # 369:

       Blessed are those who know the sweetness of honey bees, for they shall sing happily in their dreams.

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The teeny details:
my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.
my eBooks for Kindle:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Fran+Stewart
my eBooks on Smashwords (for all other formats):  http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Fran+Stewart

Day #321 A Shrew and a Line

In the past few weeks I’ve seen two marvelous theater productions, and I'd like to share my delight with you.

The first was The Taming of the Shrew at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern. Shrew is one of those shows that a lot of people hate in our politically-correct times. I’ve seen it produced many different ways. That’s one of the beauties of Shakespeare – you can take the very same words, change the intonation, and get diametrically opposing interpretations.

This production turned out to be raucous, hilarious, and one of the finest love stories I’ve seen in a long time. www.shakespearetavern.com I hope you’ll check it out. Through the end of September, they’re playing it in repertory with Two Gentlemen of Verona and A Comedy of Errors (which happens to be one of my favorites).

Then, on Sunday I saw A Chorus Line at the Aurora Theater in Lawrenceville. First, I must say I’m in absolute awe of anyone who dance that long and that hard, and make it look that effortless. I was almost reluctant to see it—I’d seen the movie and quite frankly was bored silly. But the play was something altogether different. Beautifully cast, and quite well-performed.

Then I came home to my bees and watched their daily production, choreographed by a master planner. Lovely.

BEEattitude for Day # 321:

       Blessed are those who work to excel at their craft, whatever it may be, for they shall be blessed with applause.

Coming Soon: a raffle, so your dog might be in my next book!

Details on September 1^st

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http://www.franstewart.com

Day #312 Drinking Like Crazy

 

The good news is that the bees are alive enough to be drinking like crazy.

I went from an absolutely full quart jar of sugar water to this in less than 18 hours.

Of course they're still not hanging out much:

 But if they're comsuming that much sugar water, there’s hope.

COMING SOON: a special raffle to benefit Walton Animal Guild (a 501(c)(3) rescue organization) SO YOUR DOG CAN BE FEATURED IN MY NEWEST BOOK! I’ll give you the link as soon as it’s ready

Donate $10 and get one entry in the raffle. Donate $50 and get 5 chances to win!

BEEattitude for Day # 312:

       Blessed are those who enjoy our favorite writer (Shakespeare), who said “To bee or not to bee, that is the question.”

Day #144 The Complete Canon

Becoming a beekeeper has been a long process – and I don’t even have my bees yet. For some reason, this process reminds me a bit of the adventure that the Atlanta Shakespeare Company has been going through at the Shakespeare Tavern.

As of this month, they will become the third acting company in the world ever to have completed the entire canon – every play Shakespeare ever wrote. March 11^th they’ll open Two Noble Kinsmen, the story of two men who are best friends, but who fall in love with the same woman. Running in repertory on alternate evenings will be Edward III, which opens on March 17^th. The two plays will close on April 16^th and April 17^th.

Completing the canon has been a long-time dream of the ASC’s artistic director, Jeffrey Watkins. I’ve been fortunate to serve as a volunteer at the Tavern ever since I first moved to Georgia in 1993, and I've watched the dream become a reality.

The ASC gets most of its revenue through ticket sales, so – if you’ve never seen a play there (or if you’d like to see another one) – head to http://www.shakespearetavern.com/.

After TNK and E3 open, the Atlanta Shakespeare Company will join the rarified company of those two other acting groups who have performed every play of Shakespeare’s.

Ø  One of them (of course) is the Royal Shakespeare Academy in England.

Ø  The other was Willie’s very own acting company – the one for which he wrote all those plays.

Once I’ve seen both these plays, I’ll join a select group of people who have, over the years, attended every single play by W.S.

And then, in early April, I’ll join that select group of folks who live with bees in their backyard. I’m looking forward to both experiences.

BEEattitude for Day # 144:

       Blessed are those who act, for their dedication shall brighten the world.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       My good friend Millie, with whom I attend the plays.   

http://www.franstewart.com

Day #104 Smelly Feet

Queen bees have smelly feet, and that's what keeps their workers happy.

(c) Yelloideas Photography

The tarsal glands on the queen's feet ooze with pheromones (chemical substances) that ebb and flow. The mandibular glands in her mouth do the same thing. Nobody’s figured out precisely how many pheromones are present, but it is known that they are precise indicators of the queen’s health. Changes in the balance of pheromones let the worker bees know what shape their queen is in. If she smells right, she’s okay. If something goes wrong with her, her feet change their smell and the workers know they have to do something.

Public Domain Photo

The attendant worker bees constantly groom the queen, and this spreads the queen smell throughout the hive. The bees are so sensitive to the smell of their queen that when a queen is disabled or is removed from the hive, the workers all know it within minutes and spring into action to correct the problem.

As any bee can tell you, you gotta have those wonderful, informative, smelly feet!

BEEattitude for Day # 104:

       Blessed is she who knows (nose) what’s she’s doing, for she shall, like us bees, be productive.

One thing Fran is grateful for right now:

       The New American Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta, where there’s a marvelous production of Twelfth Night during January.