"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it"

Name that Shakespeare quote...

Now that the show is cast with some young people—young-ER, I should say: this category includes ME at 22, Shanna (26), Bethany (32), Kimberly (36), Carl (29? 32? 40? He lies like a woman about his age), Adam (36ish), and Dan (30s)—I have people to hang out with on weekends.

And what a weekend it was. Friday Bethany and I went to the Antilles School (a beautiful and thus expensive private K-12) to lead a Shakespeare workshop with kids and teachers. We are trying to get certain teachers excited about the Student Shakespeare Festival that we are trying to put together for May.

THE kids were reticent at first, but when Bethany let them pretend to be battling, or told them that SHakepeare was never meant to be READ, they warmed up immeadiately.

In one activity, Bethany had kids in groups giving certain Shakespeare lines some gestures and “stances.” Our favorite was one seventh grade group who divided themselves into two lines by gender to act out a constructed couplet:

“3, 2, 1, Action!”
The guys went down on their right knee, hand out to the line of girls and said bravely:
"Sweet, above thought I love thee" (from Troilus & Cressida)
The women looked at the guys, sassily raised their pointer finger, turned away and did their “talk to the hand” and said:
“I love thee not, therefore pursue me not” (from Midsummer)

So that was great. We recruited some interested teachers, one of whom is a music teacher, so she’ll bring some of the Shakepsearean songs to the festival. Afterwards, Bethany and I had a meeting over lunch by the ocean at Iggy’s by many of the resorts. Beach restaurants are all open air, because the weather is so fair all-year round.

Then that night, Bethany invited me to go to “Betsy’s Bar” for Cory’s (her boyfriend) 27th birthday. After getting lost, I finally arrived that night, to Betsy’s. It was strange seeing my name in print…

Betsy was behind the bar, and of course we got on famously. Betsy is a big windsurfer on the island, and she’s like a mother to many of the family-less guys like Corey who come down here for work and end up staying. They’re her lost boys.

Everywhere I go, I learn a bit more about the island culture. Tonight I learned that the legal age for drinking is 18 and youngsters are “legal” at age 16, not 18 like in the states. I always said that kids in New York City must have the steepest growing-up curve, but I stand corrected.

Island (West Indian) women are usually pregnant at 16 or 17. So that the new mothers can stay in school or stay young, their mothers raise the new grandchildren. Of course, the grandmothers are in their early 30s taking care of their daughters’ babies, so that looks lieke mother and child to us Stateside tourists. But they have 2 generations for to one.

Tomorrow I’m going to St. John with Bethany and Kimberly for Bethany’s Stage Combat Class.