Much Ado About Nothing

Our production of Much Ado About Nothing that we've been working on for six months was performed last Saturday.  The youth did an outstanding job.  Everything came together very nicely, including the background music that one of the young men put onto his laptop to match each scene.  Another young man put the entire script onto an overhead screen to provide Chinese subtitles for the audience members who don't know English well enough to follow along throughout the play.

Demi and Emma (Alina's older sister) helped out with hair and makeup as the kids were getting into costumes for the big night.  Anticipation for the production was building up as stage props and sound equipment were getting set up.  The weeks and months spent practicing and memorizing their lines of foreign dialog were finally shared on stage with the eager, attentive crowd.  By their positive reaction and applause, I would say the show was a huge success.

Aaron and his dad helped to provide much needed Chinese subtitles for the English language play.

The Elders Quorum hosted a dumpling making activity downstairs prior to the play, the results of which became dinner for everyone in between our final dress rehearsal and the actual performance.

Here is Christopher, standing up after kneeling down to propose to Joy, or rather, Benedick asking for Beatrice's hand in marriage.  She shows off her dazzling green wedding ring to the audience and everyone lives happily ever after.

Following the double wedding ceremony, everyone broke out into dance and the final curtain closed and the crowd cheered graciously.  I will always remember fondly this wonderful opportunity I had to work with these incredible youth.  Directing this play literally brightened my world in a time that could have been extremely challenging when I first moved to Taiwan.  I love and appreciate each of these amazing youth.

Joy's mom had arranged for a colorful bouquet to be given to each participant, including the stage hands who helped tremendously.  Demi and I were each given a massive bouquet of sunflowers that I'm still enjoying a week later.  Thank you, Charlotte!  And thank you to Lisa, Joy, Sophie, Alina, Nancy, Ruth, Christopher, Andy, Jimmy, and Thomas for all your hard work!