Kids' theatre, the fetishization of the nuclear family, and Logan Roy dropping wisdom
Plus my least aspirational Obsessed rec yet!
I am positively high after attending a fourth-grade performance of Alice and Wonderland at my fourth-grader’s elementary school.
I can’t make his official show on Thursday because of my first book event (related reading by
in this piece) but I am fully in awe of everyone who works with children in an official capacity on a regular basis. The entire school (kindergarten - fourth grade) was lined up in adorable rows on the floor in the emptied out cafeteria, and these teachers! They deserve a million dollars per day! They were ON IT in all ways - like constantly aware of any sort of twitch or fidget or interaction that might escalate. They have incredible hand signals. They have incredible hand claps. They have otherworldly silent facial communication. They are magicians. Why are we impressed by hedge fund managers?!?!?!?!?!?!AND THE MUSIC TEACHER! was! magnificent! She was responsible for teaching roughly 60 kids to sing, dance, act, move scenery, and not devolve into mutinous chaos. The result was a tour de force. She was front and center, directing every single moment of the action (including the music cues on her computer!!) and seamlessly prompting kids who forgot their entrances or lines. I was grinning so hard the entire time. My favorite thing about kids’ theatre might be their incredible reliance on body expression - like the way they throw their hands and hips around to convey annoyance, sass, whatever even if their vocal performances don’t match the flamboyance of their hand performances at all! I adore it. Shout-out to the Flowers of the Golden Afternoon who (in this production) were doing major homage (whether or not they’re aware of the homage) to Mean Girls. If you have a chance to see an elementary school stage production, run don’t walk. That’s my hot take.
Reading
Only 30ish pages in, but so far it’s sorta like School of Good Mothers (except less excruciating plot-wise) crossed with our cultural obsession with true crime. Stay tuned!
Obsessed
I regret to inform you that this week’s Obsessed link is kinda gross.