We were doing so well!!!!…. and then came some unpleasant ‘tude from one of the girls, and down went the group.  We split into 2 groups this week, and I worked with the Brooks Brothers (no relation to clothing company), Iyonna, and Nia. Together they make up the 4 way love triangle of the play. Iyonna was in a really sour mood and more or less ruined practice for everyone involved. It sucked because the boys actually wanted to go over blocking, acting and their lines today! Nia as always was just super distracted, but she got progressively worse the more Iyonna complained and shouted about directions and life, and physically beat on my Demetrius and Lysander. Marcus Brooks got tackled to the ground like 6 times. It was one of the most frustrating practices for me yet. I also realized I know nothing about giving acting tips and directing interaction and movement on stage. Oliver’s group sped right along, and so when they finished we just gave up and gave everyone free time. I pulled Iyonna aside and asked her what was going on. She had a really bad day at school and someone had made a comment to her she got really offended by. We agreed to leave the attitude behind next week. Either way, majority of the kids are refusing in advance to show up on December 4th. I’m not sure how much power they have to make that decision, but I really hope someone can force them to come. It would be terrible for the kids that are excited about this to have their moment ruined by others.