Runnin' da Goat

Yesterday my friend Gina and I went to a play at the Stratford Festival.

I actually have a problem with the Stratford Festival.
Even when, in the cold of winter, I deem their upcoming season "so-so" I still end up getting tickets to at least three plays and wishing I could see more.  Such are the problems of a drama nerd.

So when I say my friend and I took in a show at ye olde Festival Theatre, that should come as no surprise to you, BUT when I tell you that my friend and I danced on said stage... THAT'S exciting!!

If you look real close you can see the heel of my shoe in the back there.  JUUUST Kidding!
This is the cast "running the goat" at the top of the show.
 They did the whole thing, we only did an aberviated version during the finale.

The first time I flipped through the 2016 season programme I flitted right passed As You Like It.
"Meh," I thought,  "It's a Shakespearean comedy.  I'm over it."  Of course, I'd never read or seen As You Like It before, so I don't know what I was basing this indifference on, but as soon as I realised that there was an audience participation element I was intrigued.

I really love audience participation.  Gina usually hates it.  Mostly, she says, because it's rarely done well.  I would agree that it is very hard to get right, but I'm usually in for anything.

So as soon as I read that audience members are encouraged to wear light coloured clothing and use props during the show my eyes grew wide.  I read on...
What?!
There was also a chance to learn a traditional Newfoundland set dance called "Running the Goat" and  dance with the cast ON STAGE?!!!

Well... there was no question, I was going to participate if it was the last thing I did.  But who would I bring?  Who do I know who would be up to the task?  My husband was right out.  As much as I love him, he's not much of a dancer, and I'm pretty sure I used up all my Choreographed Dancing in Public Points on the first dance at our wedding.  (Yes we had a choreographed first dance.  It was to Blood Sweat and Tears' "You've Made Me So Very Happy", and we encouraged the audience our guests to join us for the second half.)

That left me with Gina, and mercifully she agreed, and even more mercifully the dance was not actually very hard.  In fact it was a lot of fun.  AND we got to go backstage, which is HUGE and CLEAN!!  So very, very clean.  I'm so used to teeny tiny high school back stages, where everything is a mess, even when you've spent hours organising... how hard is it for students to put their props on a table and costumes back on their hangers at the end of a show?!!   But I digress...

The play in and of itself was very good (I think it might be one of my favourite Shakespeare Comedies after all.  It's definitely up there with Twelfth Night) and it was all very well done.  They placed it in Newfoundland, 1985, which was a lot of fun.  They definitely took liberties, adding little gags here and there but I thought it worked really well.  The actual story telling was stellar.  They pulled out all the Bard's old jokes and made them land really well, sometimes I even forgot I was watching Shakespeare, it was that good.

Anyway, I highly recommend it, if anyone's looking for something fun to do on an autumn weekend.
I'm off to do a jellyfish.
WHOOOOOO!!