Cast Away in Shakespeare's Garden "Critiques"

Cast Away in Shakespeare's Garden has had a four year journey. From its inception with a huge cast production to it's semi-finalist status at the Bonderman 2005 and now to its second place win in the Jackie White Memorial Children's Play Writing Contest - it has come full circle.

I entered it American Alliance for Theatre Education's "Unpublished Playreading Project" and received many hints of what they liked and didn't like. At the Bonderman, I was told to go high-tech with the kids left at home (trying to get the castaways back to their own time). The UPRP said, too much of the tech stuff. The Jackie White Contest also thought it detracted from the movement of the play.

I was told Shakespeare was a bit of a dolt. Well, I didn't want that. From outward appearances, the man was pretty smart. All liked the inclusion of the children playing at Pryamus and Thisbe (whew). Some liked the ending (where the kids do come home via their comet) but are placed a minute before they were carried away - and so have no memory of the event. They thought it was maybe too quiet and not a "zip-zappy" ending after all that went on in the play. For my part, I thought - if the castaways had a memory of being thrown back into Shakespeare's garden and playing with his kids - they could never have kept that quiet. They would boast and talk and wind up on the front page of the National Enquirer.

And then the one critique that really worked for me. One "Reader" mentioned that there wasn't enough differentiation between the kids of today and the Elizabethan Era children. And that clicked with me. I did work that out - for a month. And one of the critiques from the Jackie White memorial Play Reading contest mentioned that they liked the differentiation in the children very much.

Critiques are a mixed bag. Sometimes, you scratch your head and think, "No I don't want to do that." Or, "That doesn't work with the play." Other times, they jump start your brain and you eagerly begin rewriting saying, "Thank-you. That's what I wanted to do and I got distracted along the way."

Excerpts to the play can be found on my website.