This week was fairly similar to last week, in that we were only working with a few of the scholars while the rest worked on another project. Unfortunately, our Prospero and Ferdinand had been picked up early, so we had some other brave volunteers read the lines for their friends. We finally made it through the entire script in one go, so our other characters will be much better prepared when we run things through with the originally cast Prospero and Ferdinand two weeks from now. Script readings have gone well the past two weeks, our only challenges being volume and the scholars’ comfortability with Shakespearean language. However, we are still left without sailors, though we do have a few scholars willing to read for the nobles. Again, this seems like it will have to be a last-minute decision, depending on who is available and willing to help with the water and pirate ship on the day of the performance.

Hopefully when we return from Thanksgiving, we will have our entire group to help us finish the pirate ship and fill in for sailors and stagehands where needed. We should bring prop hats and the “water” next time we go, so that we can mark which hat goes to whoever and get our scholars used to their props before the performance the next day. Maybe the realization that the performance is impending will inspire some of the scholars to participate more, though ultimately, it depends on who shows up on any given day.