trans_9 | Speed Shakespeare [Open]

Billy hadn't the slightest idea how much time had passed since his rushed deal with Metronome for the Clock's destruction. He'd typed out a hurried plea for help on the omnicom network, sped off to download and review the play's script, and conjured an auditorium-like Sensorium for rehearsal. All that remained was the arrival of the cast and crew, and this probable disaster would begin.

Just what have I committed myself to? If my judgment is questionable for attempting to stage this production in just a few days, the cast...I don't foresee this ending well.

Once everything was prepared, he sent a quick message to the volunteers. They should be arriving any minute

((This is going to be subthreaded out in stages. Mingling, a place for comments from the peanut gallery, auditions/arguments, and brief rehearsal scenes. Thread out whatever you think is funniest! Final casting decisions will be happening here. I'll be on chat/AIM/Plurk during this post if you want me.

Now open for posting! Don't feel obligated to participate, we're not obsessively logging everything. This is just for comedy opportunities. Most of what I want to know is who's playing who. And it's okay to jump in even if you didn't sign up on the comm post. Everyone's welcome to audition!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I can see your point," Billy agreed. "Could you read the fight between Tybalt, Mercutio, and Romeo in Act 3? The lines just before their battle."

Billy waited to see how this would turn out.

(You don't actually have to look up and quote the lines. Just an idea of the emotion's good.)

Zouichi closed his eyes for a brief moment, attempting to put himself into the role. When he opened them again, his expression was one of cold fury, his manner stiff, his voice controlled but barely.

"Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford
No better term than this,--thou art a villain.

Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me; therefore turn and draw."

That earned a round of applause from Billy. They would have to see how everything fit together next, of course, but the solo performance was wonderful.

"Congratulations, you have the part. This might be a salvageable production after all."

"Thanks. I hope it's a little more than salvageable, though, if our friends are on the line." Also, Maridian seemed like someone who could take a few blows about the head without much ill effect, so there was that much less to worry about.

"I hope so too. Thanks, Zouichi, this means a lot."

Billy wiped the sweat from his brow. Two roles cast, many more to go.

He paused for a moment. "...If it's all right, may I also try out for the other role that you mentioned on the comm channel? Romeo?"

"Sure!"

Billy flipped to that part of the script. "You'll just need to read some balcony lines, you don't need to do the action sequence again. If it helps to imagine a Juliet in front of you, feel free."

Zouichi nodded; he'd been studying Tybalt’s lines before he had Romeo’s, but once committed, he’d pour everything he had into the attempt. After all, their friends’ lives were at risk – what was a little discomfort on his part? He took a deep breath, reviewing his impression about the character in his mind. A young man filled with youthful bravado, careless and free in love – at least until he met the woman who would instantly capture his heart. Zouichi took a deep breath.

For now, he was a youth, listening his companion’s jibes at his expense recede into the distance even as he risked his life to catch a single glimpse of his Juliet.

“...He jests at scars that never felt a wound,” he said, smiling wryly at his own words. Had he ever felt that wound, before the events of tonight had brought him to that one brief, sweet encounter with the daughter of the Capulets? How long had he spent pining after Rosaline, brashly professing his affections to all who would listen? How long ago since he might have joined Mercutio in his teasing banter?

Zouichi raised his gaze upward, as if at a sudden sound – or unexpected sight. “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?”

“It is the east,” he murmured softly, “And Juliet is the sun.”

“Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she:
Be not her maid, since she is envious;
Her vestal livery is but sick and green
And none but fools do wear it; cast it off.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.”

“I am too bold,” he said, lowering his gaze as if ashamed at having forgotten himself and where he was. She could not see or hear him, not now -- how could he allow himself to be so carried away here, with her relations so close and when he had not yet even made his presence known to her? “...'Tis not to me she speaks.”

But it was not long before his eyes were drawn inexorably upward once again. His expression softened; he was lost to reason once more.

“Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.”

“See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!” he sighed, eyes still fixed upwards in an expression of watchful longing. He raised one hand ever so slightly toward her, as if imagining how it might feel to once again be close – close enough to feel the whisper of her lashes against his face, to hear her murmured words, to feel the warmth of her hand grasped in his own.

“O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!”

Billy knew that he was watching a genuine and skilled performance, even if he lacked the background in theater to describe it in more specific terms than that. They needed a lead actor who could carry it well, and Zouichi might just be the one.

But still, where did that leave the others? Mr. Grayson, just as technically skilled. Beastboy, the most emotional of all. He'd have to step back and think about where they would fit best in the production.

"Excellent. Our Juliet is Tenaya, if you know her. I'm going to talk to everyone again and decide the final casting here."

Speed Shakespeare [Open]

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