The 'Correspondence' Affair #5 - July 28, 1912 (Millicent to Alexander)

[avirra.livejournal.com]

From : Thun, Switzerland

July 28, 1912

Dear Alexander,

I was practically raised in the theatre. I daresay I have viewed many performances that might not be considered of appropriate age level, but I don't believe that I have been adversely affected by the exposure. Or perhaps the blame can be laid there for the streak of cynicism that the girls here say that I have.

As to the question, yes, I have seen several of Gilbert and Sullivan's works. Your friend should enjoy Miss Dow's performance. I saw her last in 'Patience' in the title role and she was delightful in it. I should like to meet Augustine some day. If she has just had her coming out, I presume she must be somewhere around five years older than I am. Perhaps she has an easier time with Italian conjugations and could make some suggestions.

We shall be performing our version of Romeo and Juliet next week. I've known the basic story for quite some time, of course, but until I had to study his role, I never quite realized how shallow Romeo is. Pining for the fair Rosaline as if his world is ending for the lack of her and then once she is out of sight, he falls for Juliet like Rosaline never existed. Had he delayed killing himself, he likely would have been equally in love with yet another woman before the month was out. I had heard the phrase 'out of sight, out of mind', but never really thought of it in those terms. I trust Romeo is an aberration among men. I certainly cannot picture either yourself or Uncle Lucien behaving in such a caddish way.

My Juliet is a young lady by the slightly unfortunate name of Ermengarde Breckenridge. She is, alas, a bit of a giggler, but to her credit, not a chronic one. The unfortunate part is that she has trouble saying any of Juliet's 'love' speeches without either turning red as a beet from blushing or giggling. We are being graded on this, so I can only hope to keep my own features composed and pray our Drama instructor grades us as individuals instead of as a whole. Of course, Ermengarde might surprise me and do perfectly well at the actual performance. The times that she has been able to get a line out without embarrassment or laughter, she did quite well. And she does at least have all of her lines memorized - which is more than I can say for the young lady who is playing Mercutio.

If you find yourself away from London for an extended time, do try to at least drop a postcard so that I shall not have to muse if you've been run over by a donkey cart in some foreign land. Has it really only been three months that I've been here? It seems so much longer somehow.

In the fine weather here, we have begun archery lessons. My primary difficulty is upper body strength, but I have been assured that a bit more practice will work all of that out. My instructor also assures me that I have a 'good eye'. That seems to mean that I have a knack for zeroing in on my target, so I suppose that will be an advantage. Our instructor has offered to show me how to throw a blade as well and I believe I will take her up on that as she says that will also help me sharpen my hand to eye coordination.

We won't begin our lessons on firearms until the fall. There is even a bit of talk that some of us might be allowed to participate in a local hunt if our skills are adequate. I think I will make that a goal. I am not sure that I will enjoy it, but difficult to say unless I give it a try.

I do appreciate the news on the Titanic. We do not have access to news on a regular basis here as some of the instructors feel that current events take our minds off of our basic studies. The oldest girls are the only ones with actual studies in current events. I suppose they only make that exception so that the poor things don't drop dead of shock when they step out into the real world.

Do give my Uncle William my best regards when next you see him and also tell him that I trust his hand will soon be healed. He will know what I mean.

With fond regards,

Millicent

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Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Ah learning some skills that will come in handy in her later years! This was excellet as you've captured an air of innocence still in the cynical Millicent.