New Act (kinda) (Patreon)

I've been trying not to make new acts because I already have a million and I need to spend my limited time elsewhere.

BUT a couple weeks ago someone contacted me on a monday and said they needed a shakespeare act for a Midsummer show that friday. They were desperate, so it didn't have to be a Midsummer act. My Romeo act is lighthearted (unlike my Hamlet act.) It's easy to bring to a show (unlike my Lear act.) And it's accessible to people who don't know THAT much about Shakespeare (unlike my Emelia act.) So I offered that. 

About 10 seconds later I realized that my Romeo act is a teenager whining about unrequited love, which is pretty damn applicable to Midsummer. It's kind of Helena's whole deal. So I could still do the act, just with a different costume.

But WHAT costume? Without the context of an overall show design, Helena could be in almost literally anything. She's tall, she's pretty, she's a young lady, and that's pretty much all the text requires. Traditionally she is also blond but I don't think that's in the text.

So I went through my closet, er, costume stock to see what might leap out at me. The song is modern and she's a romantic so I ended up with two possible looks:

Fantasy nerd

or Pink and Fussy

I consulted fellow Shakespeare nerd Sarah Tops and we agreed on Pink and Fussy. I needed something to fill out the shoulders so I made some extra time to stop by a thrift store on the way to the gig. By magic, the first thing I touched was a perfect pink cardigan.

I also had to change my prop slightly. The original was a notebook that said "Does Rosalind like me?" so I made a new page for Demetrius and added this one.

Since I am, in my way, a traditionalist I added a blond wig.

I don't think anyone got photos or video but people really liked the act and Sarah said this version was probably more accessible since most people don't remember that Romeo starts the show pining over some OTHER girl. But I like making fun of Romeo so I'll keep it in the rotation.