Meliara, Countess of Tlanth

I wish I could make dolls. I would make beautiful impressions of all my favorite heroines from all my favorite books--Queen Susan and Queen Lucy to start, perhaps, then Lizzie Bennet, Jane Eyre--I'd have my work cut out for years and years!

Unfortunately, I can't make dolls. 

But I can buy them. At least, if they're $20 dollars at Longs I can (It's amazing what I've found at Longs before). So here is Meliara, Countess of Tlanth, from Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, one of my favorite fantasy/action/romances. It isn't really supposed to be her, but I think it's close enough.

At the beginning of the book, Mel is running around in a worn-out horse blanket, helping her brother, the Count of Tlanth, prepare for war against wicked King Galdran. However, after Galdran is defeated at the end of Book I, (That's not really giving anything away, is it?) Meliara has to go to court for the first time and learn how to act like the lady she is. 

I added the single white rose in her bosom--"purity of intent"--a significant symbol in Book II. Now all I need is a miniature fan . . .

Acme Theatre's Macbeth

Last Saturday I went to go see Acme Theatre Company's production of Macbeth. Acme is a teen theater group in Davis, Calif. They performed the play "in the round," with the audience seated directly on the stage in three rows. Unfortunately, I think they would have done better performing it conventionally.

The actors did a decent job, but I didn't go home as wowed as I usually do after a play--including plays with some of these same actors. I think that being so close made it harder for both the actors and us to suspend our disbelief. When I am on a stage, whether the house is dark and the lights are on me or I'm performing outside in broad daylight, the stage creates a small realm where I can forget about the audience and become fully absorbed in my character and the story. Acting an  a foot away from an audience member who's grinning and enjoying the tragic scene would probably be a bit more difficult. The cast of Macbeth seems to have experienced this. For me, sitting in the audience, being able to see the mediocre costumes up close didn't really add to the experience. Neither did the sack of red "blood" that flew our way at the end. For more experienced actors, doing it in the round might have been very effective, but for Acme I think it ended up working to their disadvantage.

Interestingly, they cast the witches as guys. Unfortunately, this left only three males to play the remaining male roles, so most of them were played by girls, including Macduff. The girls did very well, but it just wasn't the same. However, the witches were fantastic--creepy and definitely weird without being ridiculous--but I would have rather they had used the guys for the roles that really must be male.

All of the actors did very well, considering the level of difficulty, but there were a few that really stood out. Delany Pelz, who played Lady Macbeth, had great energy throughout and was very convincing, as she always is. Vivian Breckenridge, who played Malcom, was also very good, and I have to give Kate McFarland a heap of credit for doing such a good job as a fierce, noble, and manly warrior. And, since I should say something about the title role, John Ramos, who played Macbeth, did great, but I've seen him do better--blame the format.

Tolkein and Lewis

I'm currently reading two books: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. Their language is very similar in some ways, and it's fun to imagine them sitting and talking together. 

Though I read The Hobbit years ago, it's taken me awhile to pick up The Lord of the Rings because it seemed that for every wonderful thing I heard about it, I also heard how boring it was. Well, I haven't found it boring yet! But I'm glad I waited, because even the parts that I might have found boring a few years ago are quite interesting now (college literature classes will do that to you).

Mere Christianity is incredible. The concepts are important and thought provoking, but, unlike many books of this type, Mere Christianity doesn't read like a textbook. Lewis' voice is so entertaining (in the old-fashioned sense (I don't laugh when I read it)). I want to learn to come across so clearly in my writing. And one other bonus: I told my mom I was reading it, and she said she thought that was the book that changed her mind about Christianity. 

Young Women, or Old Girls?

A few minutes ago, sitting in the Sac City quad, I started thinking about the ages of the people walking by. I'm not really sure how old most people are here, probably about 19 to 24 (not including the "life-long learners"). They are adults, but they still look, dress, and act like teens in a lot of ways. As girls (or women, perhaps) walked by me, I looked at their faces and tried to imagine how they would look and act, as well as who they would be, if they had lived a few hundred years ago. Putting them in a dress from another era, I was surprised at how mature they looked. Many of them would likely have settled down by now and be raising a family and running a home.

Do we grow up slower now? Emotionally, I mean? I think we must. After all, I'm certainly not planning to marry at 17. 

Ensorcelled Trees

Today I went boating with my youth group, Grace High. The river was beautiful, but the trees along its edge looked like something out of someone's imagination. I guess they are, really; they are out of God's. They were only one or two deep, but they were covered in some sort of vine, like ivy. They looked like colossal animals that some sorcerer had turned to leaves many ages ago. There was something about them that was just wondrous.