Well, rehearsals are not going as planned. In fact, they are not going at all. When Joe and I arrived at Henderson last week, we discovered that Higher Education had been cancelled. When I emailed Brandie about this, she also confirmed that HE was cancelled for this week as well. This means that we will only have 2 rehearsals to cast AND block the play. This is not exactly the situation I had hoped for, but I also realize that the play was never going to be spectacular even if we rehearsed all semester.

The biggest problem we have at rehearsals is not the students’ acting ability. It all really comes down to behavioral issues. The students have been in school all day, and Higher Education is their opportunity to relax and be social. The last thing they want is for someone to come in and make them read. Because of this, I’ve tried my best to be both authoritative and friendly. I want them to know I understand that this isn’t the most fun thing in the world (even though I think Shakespeare’s fun), but I also want them to know I expect them to participate anyway.

I think one thing that would make this experience better would be if our site supervisor was more interested/involved in the project. I don’t feel as though the organization is particularly excited about us being there. Everyone is very very nice and very good at their jobs, but I do feel envious of other groups in class who seem to have very supportive supervisors. Joe and I can definitely handle the situation, but it seems as though other groups (esp. St. Joseph’s) are more organized and supported.