More with the gratuitous mugging for the audience.

Today we had a school matinée of Shrew, which actually went rather well--they followed along, laughed at mostly appropriate locations, and cheered at the end.

Couple of nice things about school audiences:

• When two people kiss onstage for the first time, the entire audience goes "WooooOOOOooooo" en masse--it's like a sitcom audience.
• Likewise, when I smack my servant (Nick, who does an absolutely perfect stage slap--I miss him by a good six inches but he sells it completely), the audience 'bout freaked, thinking I'd really smacked the bejezus out of him.
• When I come out in my wedding get-up (remind me to take a picture and post it--Petruchio apparently slew many Muppets to make his wedding jacket), the audience lost it so badly that nothing in the scene following could be anything but a letdown. Shakespearean speechifying doesn't hold a candle to bright orange furry vests, apparently.

We have another school matinée Thursday morning, and performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. You know you want to come from all over creation to witness the misogyny.