Another Day with the Bard

This morning we had a full hot breakfast at the hotel before we went to the literary seminars that are held outdoors under a grove of cedar trees. The people who were there discussed the play that we saw yesterday afternoon. The second hour, the evening performances were talked about.

The next hour we went to a costume seminar where we learned how the costumes were made from the drawing to the final product. Bill Black, a consume designer from the University of Tennessee, designed the costumes for two of the plays this year…he has been doing this for 17 years.

We enjoyed a lunch of fruit, nuts, and candy under a huge sycamore tree in the courtyard.

This afternoon’s play was The Secret Garden which was a musical. It is based on a well-known children’s book that is about an orphan who goes to live with her uncle. While in his mansion, she discovers her boy cousin who is confined to his bed due to an unnamed illness. His father is mourning his wife who died in childbirth and makes the son feel unloved. She finds a secret garden and then she and the gardener restore the garden and in turn restores health to the boy. The relationship with the father is also restored. It was a wonderful play.

For supper, we went to the Garden House and we each enjoyed different meals. Mike had pork and I had chicken, while Jo and Duane both had seafood.

The evening’s performance was Henry V by Shakespeare. This is a history play that starts soon after the accession to the throne of young Prince Henry. To increase his popularity, he decides to attack France even though his forces are outnumbered, England wins and Henry returns home as the king of both England and France.

We all nodded off a little in the first half of the play but the fights and love scenes kept us awake in the 2nd half!