Casey, What a wonderfully vigitant day! And what a beautiful life you have built, immersed in Shakespeare, exercising your talent and knowledge with appreciative folks, and wrapped in the love of your beautiful family. Perfit.
I miss you and long to catch up and reminisce, my dear Falstaff! Love, Susan On Fri, Apr 24, 2026 at 5:19 PM Casey Caldwell <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, all, > > I had a busy day on April 23rd, the day we traditionally celebrate as > Shakespeare's birthday, and I found myself thinking about our Winedale > family a lot throughout. In these dark times, I thought it might be nice to > hear about it. > > I started my day teaching from Ian McEwan's *What We Can Know, *a > (post-)post-apocalyptic novel that, at its heart, is about the role > literature and literature professors can play after the world has > collapsed. There are many allusions to Shakespeare in the novel and if > you've not read it, I highly recommend you do. Yesterday, we focused on the > novel's depiction of future college students' lack of interest in history > and whether they saw themselves in these students—most said that in high > school they found rote memorization boring but in college they were > becoming more interested in history as a conversation and contested > subject. A hopeful note! > > Next, I hosted a Shakespeare Sonnet Festival by the lake on our campus. > Many students came out to read and discuss Shakespeare's sonnets on the > grass by the lake. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm. If you're > familiar with the weather in the Midwest, you know April (but also May) is > the cruelest month, so these truly spring days must be cherished. I broke > the ice by reading sonnet 98 > <https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/shakespeares-sonnets/read/98/?q=April,%20winter#line-98.1>; > I > noted that I'm happily married to a wife that was nearby, so the spring day > was actually a spring day for me, but that I had spent many wintery Aprils > in my earlier life. > > After, my Shakespeare course met to watch the Joel Coen film adaptation of > *Macbeth > *(with Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand). We read *Macbeth *a > couple weeks ago and next week they'll be performing short dialogs from the > play. The students really like the two lead performances, the creative > choice with Kathryn Hunter as the witch(es), and what I called Coen's > creation of a "Super Ross" whose motives seemed to transcended the world of > the play. > > After a quick breather and snack bar, I went in to rehearsal for the > English Players, a student group I direct that I have re-oriented around > Winedale's learning through performance practices. We'll be putting on two > scenes from *The Tempest *(a play I selected because we'll be taking > students in the fall to the Stratford Festival in Ontario and it will be > one of the performances they'll see). Last night we were playing with 3.2, > the scene in which the drunken clowns brag about how much they can drink, > plot the murder of Prospero, and rhapsodize about the isle being full of > noises. We had good fun trying out different versions of Stephano's beating > on Trinculo and thinking about how they advanced the story the story in > different ways. Right now, she's flicking Trinculo on the nose in the > belief that this is *very *intimidating. I remembered warmly David > Ziegler's inimitable and drunken Borachio not wanting any colors colored in > our 2015 reunion *Much Ado*. > > I then had just enough time to walk-jog over to an auditorium in the > student union where I was hosting a movie night. I was showing students the > documentary, *Grand Theft Hamlet > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OloHiBOMPm8>, *which follows two British > actors during lockdown in 2021 attempting to put on a production of Hamlet > in Grand Theft Auto Online. It's a funny and surprisingly touching look > into two actors seeking to continue their art and find human connection > during a time of isolation. An ensemble builds up around them in an > inspiring way. The students loved it (plus the $200 worth of pizza and soda > I supplied; I'd have included a keg of Shiner if the college would have let > me; as an adjunct, I have my own version of the Sword of Damocles I must be > ever-mindful of). > > Finally (and this may have been my favorite part of the day), I walked > back across campus to the arts building for a staged reading of *Macbeth*. > A student in my Shakespeare course told a friend with whom he shares strong > Scottish lineage that we were reading *Macbeth *and they decided to do a > reading of the play, just the two of them. Word of mouth spread, however, > and this spontaneous event blossomed into fourteen students and two > professors, homemade costumes, wooden swords, sound cues including a > screeching owl, and a couple kilts. They improvised and improved all of > this themselves in a truly ensemble spirit (with two Peter Quinces to guide > the overall process). The pure spirit of play in the room would have been > immediately recognizable for all of you. It was vivifying. I had no idea > this was happening until my student told me about it a week or so ago; it > was truly student created and led, I was merely a contingent factor. > > On my hour-long drive home last night, I was tearing up from the complex > mix of emotions and exhaustion. This last event affected me the most. > Thoughts swirled of the production of *Twelfth Night *my Winedale > classmates and I put on after our 2003 summer and of James Loehlin > attending our *Midsummer *the same day he'd had back surgery; of Doc and > the first students originating Winedale in the same spirit of play and > exploration and how the practical origins of the circle created a lasting > ritual; of my children asleep at home with my wife who is also a > Shakespearean and how I'm about the same age my dearly-departed father was > when he came out to Winedale in 2003 and finally understood the life I'd > chosen (Doc, he was a Vietnam vet and the bootcamp structure helped with > that a lot!); and of just the simple joy I could see in the students' faces > as they experienced *Macbeth *for the first time last night. > > As I write this, my daughter, Viola, is engaging her imagination with > Play-Doh, creating something she is calling a "boody puppy," while our real > puppy, Sebastian, dances about her feet. > > In these frightening days, some of the kids are alright. Thought you'd > like to know. > > Taking pains to be vigitant, > Casey > > > > > -- > Be vigitant, I beseech you! > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CAAzejW-NH5sBF4XyUc%3D6jJm6E%2BN6UB6o98FNE_rtGELK2msJAg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CAAzejW-NH5sBF4XyUc%3D6jJm6E%2BN6UB6o98FNE_rtGELK2msJAg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . >
_______________________________________________ Winedale-l mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
