The Final Presentations Begin!

Where do I start? As the presentations began, I was mind-boggled! They were both so different but I thought they complimented each other very nicely (although I was a part of one of them...)--elegiac vs. humorous.

Before I start raving about my group, let me rave about Group 1! I was so entertaining and fun to watch--and so many different connections with the text I didn't even catch at first, thanks to my level of amusement! It's one of those things I would have to watch over and over to catch every little reference, which made it amazing. I loved Kevin as Hamlet-the-gamer, Hamlet confused as he graduated college--it somehow still captured the essence of Hamlet. Rosie the hippie was PERFECT, and Mick...wow. You were so psyched about life as usual, even as a privileged frat boy! Pat, that wig killed me...and the fact that you have other crazier wigs! Victoria you were quite believable as the mean girlfriend aka Virginia Woolf, and Adam's portrayal of Horatio was something I never would have thought of, and the best Horatio I have ever seen (and I've seen three productions of Hamlet...lots I know)!! The whole presentation never would have occurred to me, and I'm glad it did to all of you. It was such a fun combination of the texts and ideas we've read in class, and an awesome juxtaposition to modern life, kudos to all of you, Adam and Zuzu and Kevin and Victoria (almost wrote Virginia there) and Mick and Pat!

Now...East Coker!

First off, it was SO FUN. I usually am not a fan of group presentations--someone gets stuck with all the work or takes over, someone never shows up, it's awkward and stilted...but not with our group. I felt comfortable contributing my own ideas, even among the smarts in our group, and it seems like everyone else did too. It was also fun that I got to practice my lines from East Coker, which all relate very much to the Eucharist and Jesus and Easter and Adam's curse.

The music was amazing, truly, thanks Tai!, and Doug was our awesome star. Kari was the absolute best Communion Leader ever, Sam made the most beautiful programs, Rian was the best communion-partner ever, and Taylor I am in awe of your constant amazing brilliance. That same could be said about the rest of our group too! Thanks again, it was seriously fun...and I think we addressed the issue of our mock communion being sacrilegious pretty well. That thought definitely occurred to me, and as one who's been to many communions in my parent's Lutheran church, I honestly can't see anyone having a problem with it. We tweaked it, altered it, made it our own enough that it felt like a new kind of communion, with our music and Doug shaving and tea and petite madeleines and chaos and hints of Jewish flavor. And our goal was the same--we weren't claiming to be taking the blood and body of Christ, but we were hoping to stir some sort of spiritual experience in all of our classmates, to find the extraordinary in the ordinary...the epiphanies in the every day. I in turn felt very spiritual...and also couldn't help enjoying the rest of my group members with their music and memorized lines and dramatic touches and police reports and shaving cream!

I should stop here before I gush everyone's socks off...it's getting a little late.

Again...thanks! I'm so glad that my last group presentation in college was with all of you, Douglas and Rian and Tai and Sam and Taylor and Kari, talk about going out on a high note!!