Sunny, theatrical days

Yep, that's right -- the sun has been shining since Wednesday! Shhhhh. . .don't scare it away. . .there's suppose to be rain tomorrow. Anyway, I've been keeping busy. . .

Tuesday night the college took our entire group to see Palace of the End, a play comprised of three 30 minute monologues, all giving different perspectives of the Iraq War. The first was from a pregnant soldier who was on trial for war crimes, the second was a British weapons inspector who was pressured to lie to authorities, and when he finally told the truth was committing suicide, and the third was an Iraqi woman who watched her son be tortured to death. Really uplifting stuff -- and while I thought the acting was good, it wasn't my cup of tea. Wednesday's play, however was great -- it was the first of the youth theatre plays we went to. It was called DNA, and focused on the negative results of "group think." Very 'Lord of the Flies', but very well done -- these teenagers are tackling rough issues. I also aprpeciated that the language used was truly how teenagers are speaking today -- no censoring. I do wish we were free to do that, but I understand that a school program is not the place for inappropriate language. Also, the youth theatre here goes up to age 26, so some of the actors in the program are a bit older (although not really in this particular play). Anyway, it was a great experience! It was in the same theater as Blackbird, but the theater was completely turned around -- very creative.

Wednesday afternoon we went down to Salthill where Berit's grandmother's apartment is, and walked to the beach on the 'other side' of the Atlantic. It was pretty windy and chilly, but still sunny, beautiful and fun -- despite the fact that we all got sand everywhere!

Thursday was a great day -- I mean, theater and shopping, could it GET any better!? While the shopping was great, the play was even better. This was the other play put on by the youth theatre, called Scarborough. It took place in a hotel room -- yes, an actual hotel room -- which is how the playwright Fiona Evans wrote it to be performed. It was so cool -- they set up chairs around the edges of the room while the action took place in the middle -- a very modern theatrical experience! The play as well as the actors were both excellent, although I do have to mention that the subject matter was about a teacher having an affair with a teenage student -- what do you have to do around here to get a happy-go-lucky play, musical, or even movie!? Truly though, I am learning a ton, and have never been so interested in reading and seeing modern straight plays.

Today was nice -- a few classes, a bit of time in the city, and an evening in for me. Both my girls had their friend/boyfriend com in last night, so I got to meet them all today. Tomorrow the plan is to rent a car and drive the beautiful region known as Connemara -- and with only two of us over 25, I will probably be doing some driving! Wish me luck -- I seriously want someone in the front seat reminding me to stay left! Since Kate is leaving the program early, tomorrow is our last day all together, so weather be damned; we're going to have an awesome time.