The Georgetown Gilbert and Sullivan Society is the now half-century old theater organization I inadvertently spawned as a first year law student (before they were called “1Ls”) at Georgetown University Law Center. Right now, the group, which calls itself “The only theater group with its own law school,” is nearing an all-time peak in student participation, interest and talent, making this old lawyer-theater guy proud and happy indeed.
Last night I attended closing night of the group’s ambitious, full production of “Hamlet,” which most community theater groups wouldn’t dare attempt. It was a modern dress version (period set “Hamlet’s” are the exception rather than the rule and have been for decades) with an “emo” concept that worked just fine. The student director staged with skill and intelligence, the casting was spot on, and it even gave me some new insights into the work despite having see the play too many times to list. Yes, a woman played the Danish prince, but the 1L actress was excellent, and female Hamlets first appeared in 1899, when the great Sarah Bernhardt played the role.
My group—I’m looked upon as a quaint progenitor from the distant past—as it has from the start, champions law students maintaining their humanity and creative lives while studying and practicing law, while conveying invaluable experience in poise, communication and management. I was pleased that the production made no attempt at contemporary political commentary; the Bards observations are complex and wise enough that overlays just get in the way.
Still, the politicizing of Generation Z by our biased education system was still alarmingly in evidence. Every bio in the program included the individual’s pronouns, which has to be a political statement, and a feature that should be completely irrelevant to a dramatic presentation, professional or amateur. (I salute the single cast member who has the guts to write “Wouldn’t you like to know!” in place of “She/Her.” That is a nice way of saying “Bite me.”
The other tell-tale sign of absurd wokism was that the program included a trigger warning about death, violence, and portrayal of mental illness. Trigger warnings generally are insulting, paternalistic and dumb, but attached to “Hamlet” especially so. No one should reach graduate school (or college) without knowing the play and especially its almost funny over-kill in its bloody finale. The lyrics of “That’s Entertainment,” written in 1952, memorably alludes to the tragedy with
It might
Be a fight
Like you see on the screen
A swain
Getting slain
For the love of a queen
Some great Shakespearean scene
Where a ghost and a prince meet
And everyone ends in mincemeat!
But I digress. On balance, the determination of law students to produce such a challenging classic, all during a pressure-pack academic schedule is a cause for optimism. Lawyer today are poisoned by the air in their metaphorical bubble, and the lawyers who come of this student theater group will arrive in the profession with more perspective as well as a habit of avoiding conventions and group think.
There is hope.
[This is turning into “Missing Curmie Day,” with a second another post where I would appreciate the AWOL columnist’s perspective. The victims of Trump Derangement reach well beyond the infected sufferers.]
Ethics Alarms 
I enjoyed reading this essay even though I am not a big theater aficionado.
I think though associations with TDS are not helping to bridge gaps in our society let alone be inviting others to join in a discussion. In my estimation TDS has become “Lets go Brandon 2.0”. It serves no purpose except to make the statement that we are always right and they are always wrong. This is what the Left does as a tactic and conservatives should be ready to debate without dismissing someone with TDS. I for one will not use the reference anymore.
If you can convince me of this, I’ll follow your lead. But “Lets go Brandon” is just an insult without substance. TDS is a diagnosis, and has real, substantive symptoms to justify the label.
I adopted “Let’s Go Brandon” less out of the insult to the President, and more as a rally cry to remember just how despicable the media is, since it originated as a newscaster’s attempts to bowdlerize the masses in the first place. I may be the only one, but my mind goes less to the former president, and far more to my detestation of the newsmedia complex.
I just don’t think it helps. I am not saying that many are not myopic when it comes to Trump but that could be said of both sides. Staunch advocates of his will never publicly criticize him while most of the opposition cannot even consider him as even their president.
What important for conservatives is to know the facts of the issues and be able to converse with those with a less favorable opinion. Suggesting someone suffers from TDS is little different than an ad hominem attack even if one can claim it is a recognized clinical cognitive impairment. In many was it allows some to avoid understanding of the issues at play.
Wonderful that this theater group is still going strong after all these years!
Your comments about what triggered YOU on the program had me laughing — clearly the trigger warning needs to be more extensive, and warn that both the program and the play contain a very large number of pronouns!
It is wonderful, and I am slowly accepting the fact that if establishing this strange organization ends up being my sole legacy of note, which seems increasingly likely, I shouldn’t feel bad about that or see it as proof of a inconsequential life devoid of importance—which is my current state of mind.
“a inconsequential life devoid of importance—which is my current state of mind.”
Please, dear Jack, there is no such thing, and if there were, you certainly wouldn’t be in danger of having one.
I do not know you beyond this blog, but I do know that you are fairly recently widowed, and also just had a serious health scare. That is plenty to shake one’s moorings, so please be gentle with yourself, and seek out more of whatever gives you joy — including attending theater productions, listening to music you love, reaching out to friends to share a meal and some conversation.
As was abundantly evident when you were temporarily offline while in hospital, you have many people who care for you. That in itself is conclusive proof that your life is neither inconsequential or unimportant…
well said Holly
Jack, I salute you. Of course, your EA output is incomprehensible. But (and?) I simply have never been able to imagine being in law school AND performing in, never mind producing, and directing a Shakespeare or Gilbert & Sullivan. I found acting in a college play to be a lot of work and something I never had any desire to do again (in large part because I wasn’t gay). And having gone through law school with a working wife and two children aged two through five and four through seven respectively while writing onto the law review and then writing an article and then editing articles to be published was more than enough for me.
And let the record reflect I was too slow to catch on to the law school game (and probably not smart enough) to grade onto law review.