Shakespeare Festival

We've spent a couple of days in Cedar City at the Shakespeare Festival. I'm glad the kids are old enough to attend and to enjoy the plays. This year we opted to see only two plays during the summer season.  I've got tickets to two additional plays in September, and we'll see if I can get Kent to go down again.  I may need to invite girlfriends to join me.

At the end of the Green Show, preparing to go in and watch our play.

The stage from our seats.

I got good ones!

Last night we saw a delightful performance of As You Like It. We did like it. I had read everyone a synopsis of the play so that the children would understand what was going on. I started to read them the actual play early in the week, but we didn't get very far. Blythe was pleased that there was romance and even kissing! But when it finally got to the kissing, it was so late, Blythe had fallen asleep on my lap. There was a wrestling match that appealed to Brandt, and a clown who amused both the kids.

The exciting wrestling scene.

I couldn't find a better picture.

Rosalind and Orlando

There was live music by these four throughout the play.

It was really wonderful.

They played in Treasure Island, too.

Touchstone, the clown

We had a brush with fame before the play started.  I happened to be seated next to Mike Peters, the man who does Mother Goose and Grimm, a syndicated comic we all find very funny.  Kent and I spoke to him at length begin the performance began, and laughed quite a bit.

August 2nd comic strip.

He does one every single day of his life,

and he's been syndicated since 1984.

Mike has won a Pultizer Prize.

We had a matinee performance today, but as it didn't start until 2:00pm, I suggested we hike to Kanarra Creek Falls. The children moaned and groaned and wanted to swim, but we swim lots and haven't hiked much this summer, so I prevailed.

I think everyone was glad we did hike. It was a beautiful trail that crossed Kanarra Creek many times. We were in and out of the water the whole way.  The canyon narrows into a slot canyon with the falls at a very narrow spot. It was beautiful! There is a metal ladder you can climb to get up above the falls, and then continue hiking up to upper falls. It had taken us long enough to get to the first falls that we didn't have with time to go higher. But everyone was fine with that. The kids were fairly hiked out.

It was busy enough at the falls that a line formed to get up and down the ladder. It's a popular place.

As we were hiking, one of the kids started complaining a bit and so I began telling then a story about when my mom was on study abroad and traveling in Spain. She went to a zoo and didn't pay 50 cents to see an exhibit because she didn't know what it was and didn't think she should bother. Turns out it was so see the only white ape in captivity. She missed it and regretted it for years.

At this point in the story Brandt said, "Does this story have a moral? I hate stories with morals."  Poor kid. It did have a moral, the moral being "Take advantage of where you are and what you're doing. You may never pass this way again and you don't want to miss anything." I hope he got it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This afternoon we saw Treasure Island. I read it to Brandt a couple of years ago and he was super excited to see it. Blythe asked if there was any romance in that play, and while there absolutely wasn't, there was lots of swordplay, and that was fantastic. The play was super fun and we all really liked it, full of action, humor, and sword fighting.

Jim Hawkins, played by a woman

Captain Smollet and Long John Silver

Long John and Jim

 

Sword fighting!

Blythe and Juliet

Brandt and William

After a quick stop for a milkshake, we drove home. I've been reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe aloud, and so while the drive is about three hours, time passed quickly.  It has been a very nice family outing as summer is drawing to a close.