Derek and Melissa’s Family

---

Ficus Trees and Flowers

by Derek—2003.10.10 @ 2119

The Utah Shakespearean Festival 26th annual high school Shakespeare drama competition began today (the title is a mouthful, and I left out Southern Utah University). There were over 80 students registered (up from 60 last year). I went over to help set up at 7:30 a.m., worked the registration booth, helped wrangle students during the photo shoot, and helped during the tech olympics. It was a pretty fun and tiring day.

Registration

My body was a little tired when I arrived at 7:30 a.m., and I didn't seem as "excited" as I was last year. I was assigned to help Ray Inkel do registration for the tech olympics and tech workshops. As the students began pouring in, I couldn't help but think of my own kids growing up and facing all the challenges of adolescence. It is an interesting time and I hope I can be better prepared to face it when it comes for Elise and Isaac.

At Noon the opening assembly began. I had my digital camera and tri-pod with me so I decided to get in on all the action. The emotion in the room was electric. The kids were so excited it was contagious. I got down close to the edge of the stage and took a few shots. When Michael Bahr did a state "roll-call" I was moved to tears as each state was called and the students stood up and cheered and clapped. The emotion was strong when Utah was called and almost the entire audience rose and cheered. It was amazing!

Back in registration, Helen Cruz mentioned that she missed seeing the Ficus trees. Last year registration was chaos because it lasted only an hour. This year the schools had all morning to register before competition began. This meant that we didn't get to see many students in costumes or the ubiquitous "ficus trees." Invariably, at least one school (usually more) bring some ficus trees for props. It almost seems like a necessity in theatre, especially with Shakespeare plays. Is there something I'm missing here?

Group Photography

After a quick stop at the Burch Mann House to make some phone calls for the Great Pumpkin Festival, I headed over to help wrangle kids for the group photo shoot. Michael and team moved the location behind the Randall Theatre by the bronze Juliet statue. Compared to last year (when students were huddled in front of the Randall steps) this location was far superior. There was much more room for studetns -- especially the larger classes -- to meet and gather. In fact, after a while I really was proven unnecessary.

I was glad, therefor, when Melissa, Elise, and Isaac came by and surprised me with a visit. I took them over to the large Feaste Pavilion to see some of the props for the Tent of Terror. Once inside, I opened a coffin and showed some of the fake body-parts. Melissa reached down into the dark coffin (it was very darn inside too) and grabbed an object. When she held it closer she saw it was a severed head and she was quickly grossed out. We left the tent soon after that.

Elise and I went back to the Randall theatre and looked at flowers and took several photos.

Tech Olympics

The tech olympics were great fun. It is an opportunity for the tech students to participate in the events while the actors are competing. The have a contest to perform technical objectives including lighting, sound, set construction, props, rigging, and costuming. It is very competitive and some students went all out. Students doing set construction had to measure and saw a piece of lumber to size using very dull hand-saws. A few students sawed half-way through and decided to use their arms and break the rest off. I'm just surprised no one broke their arm.