(written on a sheet of paper at 1:00am)

Shakespeare-Fest entry #2. The first one I began but couldn't finish since I could barely see anything on paper; I was relying on moonlight. Well, the TV's on now so I can just barely see what I've written.

The entire trip was, um... worthwhile? That's too strong of a word. It seemed as if we took extraordinary measures just to witness a lack-luster performance, but I'll elaborate later.

Two and a half hour drive in the van. Luckily grandma sat with uncle in his jeep so we didn't have to endure her. I mainly listened to my CD's (go STP!) and sketched out some events/costumes for my imaginary rock-god. Velvet Goldmin, anyone? Dad must've been weary from all the driving since he missed the entrance to our hotel not one, but twice.

Quick costume change into our more formal attire was in order, but the maid hadn't finished with our room yet. So I stood against the wall, sis paced and bounced about, dad walked around the grounds, and mom complained about her empty stomach.

(quick note: right now it's 1:00am, everyone's snoring, and I'm watching an aria by Wagner performed with English and Japanese subtitles)

I changed into my common black-everything-except-maroon-shirt outfit for the "Royale Feaste" being held in a banquet tent by one of the theaters. The interior was decorated to resemble Sherwood Forest and the hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Believable it was not, but the actors did much to distract one from that fact. Interesting dinner show; farm more interactive and entertaining han the King's Tourney at Excalibur. Ironically enough, the actors resembled friends back at LVA:

Robin Hood: Stan, but far sexier with better legs
Little John: Taylor
William Wallace (?): Nick
Friar Tuck: Will + 100 lbs.
Red Riding (Robin's little sis): Nikki
Sheriff: Tyler
Prince John: Kellan
Maid Marian: Alexa
her Nurse: Claire (boy-chasing, bellying dancing, and all)

The food was actually quite good: grapes and apples with cheese curd, a tastey salad, thick cheese/lentil soup, honey-roasted game ontop of rice pilaf with rosemary, potatoes, cranberries, finshed with breadpudding and a sprig of mint. I put that lil bit into my tac of apple cider.

In between the dinner and the play, sis and I went down to the green stage to be entertained during our hour wait. Many of the performers from dinner were again performing. This time we witnessed (and tried desperately to understand) a Highland drama. Aside from the stage actors, many others were roaming the grounds completely in character. There was a boy constantly being chased by a girl, two men drunk off their tights that tended to get into stick fights, etc. Also, we saw a bagpiper playing while little kids joined in a boulder throwing game.

One of the more entertaining parts were the numerous characters with baskets coming around trying to get you to buy their wares. A particular redhead by sis and I was very cynical about her work:

Her: (in a scottish accent) What are you doing over there? Hiding?
Man: Naw, just being a humbug.
Her: Ah... a tart?
Man: Not unless you have any humbug tarts.
Her: Well, I have apple tarts and cinnamon tarts, but no humbug tarts.
Man: No thanks then.
Her: I guess we can't be friends then if you won't buy a tart. ::walks off::

Later on...

Her: Tarts?
Boy: No thanks.
Her: So, are you two brothers?
Boy: No--
Friend: But we get that a lot.
Her: Ah. Friends then?
Friend: Well... ::grabs his hand::
Her: .... I see... ::goes off::

The boy mentioned before was another point of great interest. Since this is Utah, there was a severe abundance of beautiful boys and men. A pity that most of them are Mormon, overtly preppy, or both. Still, nothing like a good dosage of eyecandy. Two of them stood out the most.

One of them sis and I followed throughout the green stage area. He was gorgeous; natural blonde highlights, a cute yellow-striped shirt, and an intoxicating cologne. Most unusual of all was that he looked like many of my different drawings. Hn.

The otherone (who had that incident with the tart lady) was basically a clone of me except that he's white, at least 6 ft. tall, and sans the black tie. Overall a sexy, elongated, and slim figure. A pity that he's taken.

To my disappointment there was no booth selling merchandise a la Ren-Fest, but there was a thoroughly stocked gift shop. I was tempted to get many things (namely a rapier with beautiful acid etchings) but I figured that impulse buying right now would be a bit risky. Besides, how could I explain walking into the theater carrying a sword? Sis caught my attention when she described an ornate "C" stamp. I thought it was one for sealing letters with wax, but it was only a common ink stamp. Tch.

The other gift shop inside the theater lobby was not as well stocked as the other. There was hardly anything worth noting besides stationary (but everyone knows that I already have too much of that) and some cute, Normal Rockwell-decorated umbrellas. Back a bit more was a concession stand with the only other blatanly flaming boy (besides the two by the green stage) working behind the counter. Oh, and there were paintings on the walls, but sis and I couldn't stand how outlined the figures were in each one. Granted, the piece with the Victorian lace was done well.

"Man of La Mancha" was the show of the night... and it was quite a waste. Not really horrendous, but nothing outstanding as well. Cervantes/Don Quixote was well acted, Aldonsa couldn't hit her high notes without switching register, everyone at some point mumbled too softly, and the tilted stage was completely disorienting. Props to the lighting crew and set designers though.

We should have watched Othello (which was actually being held at a replica of the Globe Theater) but uncle changed the tickets because grandma was with us and she wouldn't have been able to understand Elizabethan English. Hell, she can hardly understand the English I speak.

Came home disappointed, I worked on a few more sketches a la Ramses the Damned, watched Robin Williams' performance on HBO, and tried to get some sleep from the chair I was seated at by the table. I'm not sleeping near sis since she'll probably kick, hit, or scratch me.

And now, here I am catching only 15 minute intervals of sleep at a time. Ech.