I remember doing the occasional play when I was in elementary school but very sparingly. That’s why I love that Hadley’s Waldorf school regularly does them, even if it means a lot more work and anxiety.
Plus, her teacher is very pregnant and if pulling together a play with 24 squirrely kids doesn’t make you come unglued, I don’t know what will.
Oh yeah, a newborn. They’re pretty good at that, too.
This year, the kids are studying Norse Mythology and”The Lay of Baldur’s Doom” is centered around the death of the god Baldur and the punishment of Loki.
What this means is the audience sits there stupefied, wondering what the heck they’re saying.
Hadley scored the role of Baldut’s wife Nanna. The reason she tried out for it?
1) It’s cool to be a god.
2) She only had a handful of lines.
3) She dies an unceremonious death.
I’ll be honest: I watched the disastrous rehearsal and didn’t think they’d pull it off but they miraculously did it. (Hadley is in blue to the left). And what excitement there was like archery!
I think I’ll call her Merida from now on.
She was visibly devastated when Baldur died as the chorus chimed out: “The sight of the body laying cold, proved too much for a lover’s broken heart to hold.” And Hadley delivered the following lines:
“Strength I was wrong–I have not.
Without my beloved my blood run not.”
And then Hadley dramatically collapsed to her death.
Confession: my favorite part was when the kids hauled her into the boat like a sack of potatoes.
Who says Norse Mythology is boring even if you can’t understand a word of it?….
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For the grandparents: H’s play has been posted online if you want to watch!