Day off: Calm before the storm!

Today Pam and I took advantage of our day off by sleeping in. The other two girls were up early to buy milk and bread and map out and time their commute to work tomorrow morning. They very kindly let us sleep until we woke up! Well, I did have a time limit because I met with the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation this morning about volunteering. They were one of the places I interviwed at and they desperately need volunteers to get projects done around there, so I offered 2 hours per week at their office. I'd like it there. A nice casual atmosphere and very nice people. After that I came back to the apartment and hung out until all of us girls went down State street and did some "shopping." It was mostly just walking to get a workout. We knew we wouldn't be able to get to the monstrous health club tonight because of the play. At around 5 we headed back to the apartment, made supper and got ready for the Goodman Theatre! (yes, the canadian spelling. I think I'll embrace that in my casual writing and in any formal writing I'll keep it as 'Theater'.) We weren't really sure what to wear, so three of us opted out of jeans to be a little more formal than casual. Some of the guys of the group wore ties, one even wore a black suit! We were supposed to read up on the play before we went to it. I did a little bit, but I also wanted to see if I would be able to fully understand the play without an outlined synopsis of it...the cheat notes. Here are some of my notes for my Arts in the City journal due next week about Pericles.

Before:
Since I've been to a shakespere play before (the wonderful Bard on the Beach) , I know that with a good producer it can be fabulous, but the sorceresses and fantasy isn't so interesting to me. Sounds like a confusing story, with a good cast and production, it can be very evident to the audience what is going on. I already know that I will like the play even though I'm not a fantasy fan. To read Shakespere is harder than watching it in a play. In a play you never have to have someone explain to you what is going on!

After:
Wow, what an amazing theatre! The way it was laid out was exactly/similar to how we studied it in high school. It was really awesome to see the boxes alongside the audience seating. The lighting, enthusiasm of characters, temperature, layout, space of the theatre and stage helped the already amazing cast and stage come to life. I felt like I was in the renaissance/shakesperean times when I was watching it, aside from a few terms of our common vernacular today. I didn't think I would like it this much. Before, I focused on the fantasy element to the play, but that was a very very small part. I also thought the that Thaisa and her father's incest would play a more prominent role in the play, but it was only mentioned in the beginning.
It took a while to understand what they were saying, is that because of the Shakespearean language? Because we had listened to it for some time already? or because we were becoming familiar with the story of the play? I really really enjoyed this play.I found myself at the edge of my seat when Pericles again met up with his daughter at the end. There was such a long wait between when Thaisa was rescued and when she came to the stage again that it might have people forget about her. I kept her in mind and I knew they would all meet in the end. A nice end. Touching story, happy for Pericles. Was it live music or pre-recorded? I couldn't see down far enough to see if there were musicians down in front of the stage. I wish I could see more plays to compare this one to. The write-ups in the playbill say that the producer, Mary Zimmerman, has a fresh vibrant way to directing. It's a great play and I hope to see many more!

This has me eagerly awaiting our next Arts outing, a ballet, which I've NEVER been to before!
It's a pretty cold evening so right when we came back, during our "journal time" in the room, we made some tea and journaled to Enya. I can't tell you enough how nice it is to finally have music (from my new computer) in this room!
Easter Seals tomorrow!!!!