ONCE MORE INTO THE BREECH

By Thomas Putnam
This morning on FaceBook I read this post: “Honestly could be Friday, could be Wednesday, could be January already, who knows, not me.” I laughed because for the past few weeks (years?) I've found myself saying something similar, waking up wondering what day or week or month it might be. It used to be somewhat unsettling, but now these thoughts just seem like the new reality. 

I'm finding that the way to work through such unsettledness is to go ahead and make plans and to dig right in and work toward that end. Yes, we all know by now that any plan, no matter how insignificant or life-changing, could be dashed or canceled or postponed or forgotten at a moment's notice. Realizing this, however, makes it all OK and right to set off on the journey of the plan: so that's what I'm doing.

We host a choral tribute to Martin Luther King every year. (Well, we attempt every year.) This year's event is scheduled for January 17. We waffled back and forth about whether we should or shouldn't host it and came to the above conclusion: let's move forward with plans, realizing... So we've got a handful of choral groups working on pieces and the WAHS auditorium reserved. The journey so far has been well worth it: working with the HG Youth Choir on a few incredibly powerful pieces is simply worth it.

Looking ahead, the first play I'll be directing with HG in 2022 isn't until the first two weekends of April. INTO THE BREECHES by George Brandt. It's a wonderful play and I'm glad HG is producing it. Often I can't really dig into a play until much closer to production, but due to the postponing of the two winter theatre arts camps and due to someone else directing SHREW (performances in early March) I have time to dig in. 

I have often wished I could blog through the whole process of a production, from beginning to end and have been partially successful, but not too. This just may be the opportunity to do this: offer a behind the scenes look of what goes into a production. The commencement of HG's affair with this play was months, maybe years, ago. So, get ready for some blogs about INTO THE BREECHES; I'm hoping two or three per week throughout the next three months. We'll see. 
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In the meantime, it seems a fitting title as we enter a new year. We always hope for good things on the threshold of a new year, but this year seems especially in need of a good dose of hope. So, let's dig in and plan and move forward with resolve. ONCE MORE, INTO THE NEW YEAR.

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