Thursday, August 16, 2007

what we do might be important

This is my farewell note to the company of this summer's St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.

A quick farewell and wish for the future ....

Some events of recent days, & indeed of the summer, have left me feeling a real need to value what little time we truly spend on earth and to ensure that people know the impact they may have upon my life.

Several of you are responsible for getting me hooked onthe fabulous Canadian tv series, Slings & Arrows, about a Shakespeare festival in Ontario, the first two seasons of which I watched during our run and Craig kindly left me season three upon closing.

The theme of season three, watched in the past few days, re-inforced my renewed sense of communicating value to those I care about or admire. In the special features section of the DVD, I watched an interview with Susan Coyne, co-creator, writer and actor (the Shakespeare festival's administrator, for those of you who might not know) and she said something which caused in me great sentimentality - shocking I know - about our season and the affect we have had on the community here and on each other as artists.

Forgive my cutting & pasting of her words:
  • If I have a mission [about Shakespeare], it is to present him as a living playwright for today.
  • 400 years later, we're still laughing at a joke ... because we know who these people are ... they're human as we are.
  • (About presenting theatre on tv) What we do, the theatre, might be important.
Thanks for letting Shakespeare live. Thanks for your humanity. Thanks for letting the work be important - to each other and to the community.

May you be blessed with more of the same whether we work together again or not.

Sincerely,
Molly