Some of you might recall that last September--when our teachers were on strike--I introduced my children to Shakespeare.
Janae got really into memorizing sonnets and reading Hamlet, and in my desire to encourage this very healthy obsession, I promised that in the summer I would take her to see an actual play at Bard on the Beach. Ben--in his much more casual way--said that he would like to come, too . . . and thus, the stars aligned for one of my dreams to come true :)
Before school was out I selected a Saturday in July and bought tickets for The Comedy of Errors.
Looking at the seating map on the internet, I hoped we'd be able to see the stage alright from where we would be sitting.
When we got to the play, I could not believe how great our seats were. I'd learned in one of my English classes that in Shakespeare's time people could pay extra to sit on a stool right on the stage--and on Saturday I felt as though that was US, as we were practically on the stage :)

I'd read a synopsis of the play and some of The Comedy of Errors itself with Ben and Janae before the big day, so they knew the storyline and generally what would happen . . . but the performance was even better than any of us had expected. The acting was amazing!
At the gift shop I let the kids each pick out something--Janae got a set of paper dolls with costumes to dress up as Hamlet and Ophelia, Othello and Desdemona, Antony and Cleopatra, Benedick and Beatrice, to name a few.
Ben found a book that has four Shakespearean tragedies told with . . . LEGO. The plays are abridged but told in Shakespearean language, with pictures after every few lines that show the scenes with Lego sets and figures. Ben stayed up Saturday night reading Macbeth--I wasn't sure how much he would get out of it, but the next morning he told Janae the entire story--in great detail--on the way to church :)

After the play--as we were walking to the beach to meet up with Jason, Eric and Alaina--Janae said, "If we get into a car accident [and die] on the way home, I will be happy that I saw a Shakespeare play!"
She can be a little dramatic. . . .
But I was happy that the experience didn't disappoint. Janae has actually asked several times if we can go back and see it again :)
While we were at the play, Jason had Alaina and Eric at the Planetarium, and then at the beach--both right next to the performance.
We joined them for an hour or so afterwards. It was a really hot day, so it was nice to be by the ocean. All of the kids loved finding crabs, digging in the sand, and playing in the water.


Alaina was sad that she wasn't old enough to go to the play (kids have to be at least 7), but maybe she will be able to join us, too, in a couple of years . . . and Eric and Jason, as well, a few years after that :)
In case you are wondering, YES, I am planning to make this a summer tradition for our family!