William, Wolfgang, August, and Me

On Saturday I leave for IVLI, a month long camp hosted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, a nationwide club of which I am my chapter's president. I leave in two days and I am about half way packed. Packing for a month reminds me of something about myself. I hate suitcases and packing. In fact, I once said that I think hell will be mountains of things that need to be packed in suitcases. I'm also crazy good at packing suitcases. Both the hatred and talent are born from the fact that I have had to use suitcases far too often for my taste. Up until I was 17, I lived in the same area. We moved from an apartment to a house when I was two, but I barely remember that. Suitcases were a sign of fun. They meant that we were going to camp, or to see the grandparents, or on vacation. It was two to ten days that you went and had a wonderful time and then you got to come home. At 17, my family moved to Wisconsin. Let me tell you, moving ten people's possessions several states is n...

Last time, I answered a question I'm sure you were all thinking, so I'm going to do the same this time. "Who on earth are William, Wolfgang, and August? I thought your roommates were Hotlips, Indiana-Jane, and Flowerchild." Well, William, Wolfgang, and August are three different  playwrights, from three different eras who have all influenced my interest in theatre history greatly; William Shakespeare, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and August Wilson. So, since these three fine gentleman will be my inspiration through this journey, I thought I'd give you a quick bio on how these three men did the transition into adulthood. "Age, I do abhor thee, Youth, I do adore thee." Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon to a glover. As children do, he attended school. Not much else is known about his childhood. Shakespeare got married at the age of 18, to an (gasp!)  older woman.  The process that was required of people before they got married was short...

"So what is theatre history and why are you studying it?" all of the fictional yous in my head asked. Well, theatre history is kind of a broad brush that falls under an even broader brush called Dramaturgy. In theatre history, you can study how theatre has been done throughout the years, or you can work on historical plays and research the time it's about, or the time it was written, or how it's been performed over the years. But what I am particularly interested in studying is how theatre and society have interacted throughout the past,  causing changes that have greatly impacted history.  For example, did you know that the reason we have customs such as opening doors for women, or rising when a woman enters the room, or anything else than be counted as "chivalry"  is because of performance art? My dearest hero, Eleanor of Aquitaine, saw the awful way that women were treated in court and wanted to change that. So, she hired minstrels and troubadours to wr...

My name is Abby, and I am a polka-dot crazed, vintage loving, previously homeschooled, college student and theatre nerd. And I'm about to try this adulting thing. To be completely fair, I've done adulty things before. After all, I am 23 and I moved out of my parents' home for the first time when I was 17. But that was different. I started by living with some family friends, got two nanny jobs with families I already knew and slept at their houses with them providing my meals, worked for two years until they no longer needed me and then I had to move back in with my parents. (Who, sadly, lost the sewing/craft room when I moved back in and reclaimed my old bedroom.) After that, I decided to try college, and I have been living on campus ever since. But I'm about to start my senior year and things are going to be different. For my senior year, I am moving into a campus apartment with three of my friends, who, for the purpose of this blog, we will call Hotlips, Indiana-J...