After a busy busy week of playwriting and writing plays, we are finally back, ladies and gentlemen, quickly checking in.

You may know this man as a wind-up bunny, a lazy tiger, or perhaps a swarm of bees (all of the bees). Our resident playwright and furry-by-coercion, Isaiah was an invaluable presence in our weeks of blood and tears in writing and practicing our plays, so kudos to him for dealing with our bunch of endearingly deranged Cdubs. This was also the only picture I have on my camera, alongside all the videos, so. Videos! More to come on our Playwriting unit! Check in later for exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of never-before-seen secrets and surprises, oh my! Or something like that. It’s mostly me throwing fake money at the camera. Secret to our success, guys. All of the legitimacy.

STAR testing this week! What does this mean for Creative Writing, you ask? Nothing much, actually. And you probably didn’t ask, but whatever. We are once more at the freelancing stage of our department’s heart and soul, scouring the mountains and deserts for Artists-in-Residence and soaking up their masterful artistry like the heinously dry sponges we are. Creative Writing gives “hanging us out to dry” a completely new meaning. How’s that for imagery?

Speaking of imagery, here’s an excerpt from Heather’s email of Thanks (capital T, you know that’s right). Unfortunately, formatting disallows me to portray the message in its original, exuberant series of bright neon highlights, but here is my best:

Thank-you to Carol LeMaitre for her fabulous work on the plays and to Carol and Joe for spontaneously hosting our first-ever post-performance party–it was GREAT!

Thank you A.S. Cobb for all your valuable coaching rehearsal week. You made an enormous difference, Officer Plank!

Thank you, Isaiah, for your dedication, patience, and animal magnetism. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be on the Discovery Channel.

Finally and mostly, tsunami love for our Production Goddess, Keira, whose knowledge and understanding of theater, tech, and human nature is apparently inexhaustible (as is her absolutely wicked sense of humor). Four four years she has worked tirelessly to transform writers into actors, with results that are nothing less than magic.

Thanks to Keira, the students have developed better listening skills, deepened their ability to work together, learned basic stagecraft, and become more aware of the relationship between page and stage. But most of all, Keira has helped the students discover resources they did not know they possessed. They move forward with greater confidence in their own abilities–and for this we owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.

Love,
Heather