Late Monday Melee

Hoorah, for Prudence!
We've had normal melees, lyrics melees, (take a bow, Groover) single artist, single album and even (thank you, Robyn) a melee entirely from the musical Oklahoma, but now Prudence has introduced the latest mutant Fracas Monday Melee: the "theatrical" melee.

Act One: Scene One:

1: The Misanthropic.
(Name something - about humanity - you absolutely hate).

"War always finds a way."

Bertolt Brecht: Mother Courage.


2: The Meretricious:
(Expose someone or something that's phony, fraudulent or bogus).

"War is Capitalism with the gloves off."

Tom Stoppard: Travesties


3: The Malcontent:
(Name something you're unhappy with).

"Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hours upon the stage,
And then is heard n0 more; it is a tale told by an idiot,
Full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing."

Sounds a lot like Dive, but is actually
William Shakespeare: Macbeth

… or:

"I wasted time
Now time wastes me"

William Shakespeare: Richard II


4: The Meritorious.
(Give someone credit for something and name it if you can).

"Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France?
Or may we cram within this wooden "O" the very casques
that did affright the air at Agincourt?"

William Shakespeare: Henry V

I'm giving him credit for the first line in particular, which is now engraved in the stonework on the outside of my new theatre at Wimbledon High School For Girls.
There are theatrical quotes all over the building but I insisted on that one because the idea of an all girl "Henry V" tickled me tremendously …
The thought of the girl Henry shouting "Cry God for Harriet, England and Saint Georgina!" before the entire cast pile into one another with lacrosse and hockey sticks is something that keeps me warm at night.
Hee hee.


5: The Mirror.
(See something good about yourself and name it).

"I am a vulgar man, but my music is not"

Peter Schaffer: Amadeus

… or perhaps:

"I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time.
That would be hypocrisy."

Oscar Wilde: The Importance Of Being Dive … er … or was it Earnest?

6: The Make-Believe:
(Name something you wish for).

More people to think like me:

"Oh, isn't life a terrible thing, thank God?"

Dylan Thomas: Under Milk Wood

Exit Dive, pursued by a bear …