International Men of Mystery and Greek Tragedy

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Well, it stands to reason that as a single woman I might be curious about the courting habits of the native inhabitants of this strange and exotic land. So Friday night I got dolled up, grabbed my classmates and ventured into the wilds of a Glaswegian night on the town. Our safari took us to a pub known as a fantastic venue for spirited Irish bands. Here my fellow singles and I were able to survey the natives in their natural environment. The locale played host to a nice variety of ages and types. And we were excited about the potential of a whimsical and romantic night. The band took the stage, the coats came off, the drinks were bought and the flirting began. We danced with each other and laughed as we made eye contact with alluring Scotsmen from across the room. The team reconvened at intervals and discreetly pointed out prospects to each other. Opinions were shared. Eye contact continued. Smiles were exchanged. Then a turn away. A moment of focus was paid to the band after all, the drummer was very cute. Back to the floor. More glances, more smiles. We said to ourselves, “Any second now one of them will come over and buy one of us a drink or at least say ‘hi’.” The hours passed, the drinks were drained, the money was disappearing, our enthusiasm waning. Some of our party gave up and called it a night. And then the band announced their last song. And then the bartender rang the bell for the last call. But wait! The men! They haven’t approached us yet! We started to realize the potential was fading into the chill of the Scottish night air. The band finished. The coats came on and those of us who remained were turned out onto the cold, hard sidewalk of the mean city’s streets. But we were not broken. Oh no! Glasgow should know; Americans are not so easily defeated! We will be back! But not on Saturday. Not for me anyway. I do have other things to do after all. But some did go out on Saturday night and this time they took a secret weapon. They took a Glaswegian woman. They took a native friend and classmate; one familiar with the ways of the men bearing tartans. A great secret was revealed and passed on to me this very morning: Glaswegian men are often shy of women. They can be hesitant to approach them and if they do manage it, they are nervous to stay. A theory twice proved by friends who were finally approached by men and then quickly abandoned mid conversation for no apparent reason. Strange. And yet not. I can’t say that it so different in the States. Ah well. Maybe one day a man will be brave enough to say “hi”.

In the meantime, we are half way through our ensemble project based on the Iliad. I think it is safe to say most of us want more out of this project than we have so far. We have faith in our abilities as a group and want to incorporate more of our talents. We’d like to see more range in the vocals and movement. We’d like to utilize the rhythm of the text. We’d like to use some traditional Greek theatre techniques like the use of the Chorus. We want to explore more and get creative. There is some concern. But we do have another week of rehearsal. We present on Friday. We are hopeful and excited about the opportunity to show ‘em what we got! Monday’s rehearsal will tell us more.

Stay tuned my friends!

-m