Ernie's First Shakespeare

Ernie decided that it was time for him to experience some high brow culture with other fancy people.

Well in order to do that he was going to have to start with a tubby.

Kirkland made the news for that pride flag vandalism incident we saw. Sad.

Ernie wanted to talk to his Grandparents in Springfield immediately after his tubby before he got dirty all over again.

Zzzz

The venue for today's performance was in a fun new place:

Luther Burbank Amphitheater at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island. Mercer Island is a quaint little spot. I'm not sure why we don't come here more often. I think it's kind of a fancy people area and maybe they are keeping it quiet on purpose.

We set up our chairs purposely far away from the action in case Ernie wanted to add any of his commentary to the performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Ernie was feeling very Washington patriotic today.

The nice thing about Shakespeare is I barely understand any more of it than Ernie does, so I think it really levels the playing field.

This whole MLB All-Star game situation is approaching, and what I did not realize is that it's really a whole week of fun events. So I've been doing some deep diving to find out all of the angles. Going to the MLB draft for free sounds kind of cool, for example.

A Late Summer Night’s Stroll

We try to attend the Shakespeare in the Park performance in Forest Park every year (last year), so when covid ruined that I was excited when those geniuses came up with a socially distanced outdoor walking tour version instead.

"Shakespeare in the Park like never before. An 80-minute jaunt full of poetry, music and art. Loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, “A Late Summer Night’s Stroll” puts you at the center of the story: four lovers’ escape to an enchanted wood and the magical night of transformation that follows. A socially-distant self-guided tour of iconic spots and hidden gems, featuring custom installations, open-air performances and charming vignettes."

Doug and Linda were in our gang.

I had assumed beforehand that it was just going to be the same actors but spread out in small groups. This was fun because I didn't even know what type of art to expect: sometimes it was music, sometimes dance, acting, but always fun and usually somehow related to the story. There were times when I definitely had to refer to the program to understand what the heck was going on but it was entertaining nonetheless.

The Saint Louis Art Museum was looking fine af.

Apotheosis hypnosis

Some More Shakespeare in the Park

We headed over to Forest Park for our annual dose of Shakespeare in the park. 

Wikipedia: "Love's Labour's Lost is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as they attempt to swear off the company of women for three years in order to focus on study and fasting. Their subsequent infatuation with the Princess of France and her ladies makes them forsworn. In an untraditional ending for a comedy, the play closes with the death of the Princess's father, and all weddings are delayed for a year. The play draws on themes of masculine love and desire, reckoning and rationalisation, and reality versus fantasy."

One of my favorite parts is the illustrated storyboard that explains what the heck is going on.

Montagues and Capulets in Forest Park

This year's Shakespeare in the Park pick was Romeo and Juliet.

Delicious A-B products were in attendance.

The set and the costumes were pretty modern which I wasn't initially crazy about.

At one point the lighting tower thing that we were sitting next to became part of the stage. That was unexpected and fun.

Shakespeare in the Park

This year's pick for Shakespeare in the Park at Forest Park was The Winter's Tale. Our friend Margaret got to the park during the morning and put down a massive tarp so our crew would have plenty of space to sit. The people behind us were crying their poor planning little eyes out when we arrived. Sad.

This board where they spell out the story in comic form was my favorite.