Creative Inspirations, Monday, Period One

[furnaceface]

"Good morning," Hannibal greeted the class. "I hope you all had an interesting and relaxing weekend. Today, we have a rare opportunity, and will be visiting the castle of Sammezzano, in Tuscany. It was built in the mid nineteenth century as a retreat by a marquis; all of the materials were created locally, and the entire thing was designed by him to echo styles of art and architecture from around the world, though he never himself left Italy."

He held up a hand. "These days, the castle has suffered significant wear, and is in the process of being restored. It is rarely open to the public. Please be careful and respectful while you are there."

After that, you weren't his concern.

//Unless a guide specifically tells you that you can touch it... please don't touch it,// Jono added, a bit wryly. //This place is something of a treasure, and we're allowed in by virtue of the fact that we're a fairly small group as it is.//

And that Hannibal was very persuasive.

Also that.

//You can feel free to take photos, though. Just don't detour too far from us if you'd like a closer look at something. Let us know what you're up to, and we'll try to get you as close as we can.//

Respectfully.

"The guides will mostly speak some English, but their primary language is Italian, if you know it. If you have a problem speaking with or understanding them, let me know."

And with that, the portal opened, and the students were ushered on through.

[OOC: Open!]

Drama, Monday, Period 4

[tequila_squared]

"Our play this year," Lito said, pausing for dramatic effect, "will be Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. This is one of Shakespeare's comedies, meant to be performed at the end of the Christmas celebrations. We'll just be performing it a little early, no?" He continued speaking as he handed out scripts. "Now, the play has more characters than we have actors, so we'll have to cut it down a little, and some of you may be playing more than one part. It will work out, you'll see. Auditions will be next week, so pick a speech from the character you'd like to play and come prepared to give it. I have to stress that you may not get to play the character you want. If everyone wants to play Viola, then, well, we cannot have nine Violas and no Duke Orsinos, no?

"Twelfth Night, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is the story of the girl Viola, who is shipwrecked together with her brother Sebastian, who she thinks dead. Because it is unsafe for a woman to be alone in a strange country, she must dress as a man--this is even more interesting when you consider that in Shakespeare's time all the parts were played by men, so you had a man pretending to be a woman dressing as a man. Very complicated. She falls in love with the Duke Orsino, and Olivia, who the duke is trying to woo, falls in love with Viola, unaware she is a woman. This is a comedy, so of course everything will work out in the end. Does anyone have any questions about the play?"