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Spider Quinn 16 Tempest and Change Part 2
A minute later, they were on top of the Historia.
“So, those goggles have night vision?” Philippa asked.
“Yes, amongst other modes.”
“And you don’t have powers?”
“I’m neither confirming nor denying. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be doing this without these gadgets,” the Shadow explained. “It’s like my own play. It seems that in the drama of Lawndale, I have taken this role to help.”
“And the other vigilantes?”
“SpiderGirl does have powers. But I am not sure if her webs are organic or not. Ninja Talon seems to be just a teenager skilled in martial arts who also uses some gadgets alongside her weapons. The fourth vigilante is telekinetic and can project energy blasts. I haven’t yet met the apparent fifth.”
“You don’t know what name she’s taken?” Philippa asked.
“I do, but it seems she wants to remain in the shadows as she helps Lawndale in her way. I just hope any battle between her and SpiderGirl is short.”
The Shadow was about to say more, but she then heard something to the northwest of the Historia, in Dega Street. “Duty calls!” she said to Philippa.
“You are going to leave me here?” Philippa asked.
“You’d be a liability. I trained with my mentor a while before I started doing this,” the Shadow then handed her the spare grapple gun. “It is relatively easy to use. But I’ll be back soon. Keep an eye on Daria and Sandi.”
Daria and Sandi also heard the noise as they examined an Oscorp building. “What’s that?” Daria asked.
“Sounds like something to respond to,” Sandi replied.
Daria nodded. “Right. There are plenty of places along here…”
Sandi nodded and ran off to some cover.
‘What are they doing?’ Philippa wondered.
The Enigma and Dafoanairi then met up. “What do you think it is?” the latter asked.
“Not sure,” the Enigma said as she led the way.
‘Great! They disappeared!’ Philippa thought. ‘What will the Shadow say?’ She kept looking.
The Shadow came to the spot first. A person who had just left the Zon/Zen had been mugged. She sighted the mugger running from the scene down the street. She moved into action, appearing in her usual dramatic fashion through dry ice. “Going somewhere?”
“Shadow!” the mugger said, before throwing his ill-gotten wares at the vigilante and running off. But then was cut off by energy blasts.
“Like, what the Shadow said, going somewhere?” the Enigma asked.
“Don’t need your help,” the Shadow said. “But’s it’s appreciated.” She then returned the items to the victim who was nearby.
“Thanks, Shadow,” the young lady, whom she knew in passing from Lawndale High, said.
‘Burnout Girl or Jennifer Burns, I’m sure it is,’ the Shadow thought. “You’re welcome. Remember. Crime in Lawndale is getting worse.”
“I didn’t quite believe it, even after Groundhog Day,” the blonde girl said before turning and leaving.
The Shadow turned and saw that the Enigma had left. ‘Of course.’ Then she saw another cloaked figure nearby, holding some sort of staff. “Who are you?” she asked.
“So, you’re the Shadow,” the other said in a high, yet quiet voice.
“Yes. And you are?”
“Dafoanairi. I helped SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon at the Solarium as Lawndale’s Fifth Snarky Vigilante.”
“I see and you use that staff?”
“Yes. It has been effective.”
“Effective is good,” the Shadow said. “Lawndale needs all the help it can get. But I need to get going.”
“Of course.”
Philippa didn’t need to wait long before the Shadow returned. “I’m afraid, Daria and Sandi disappeared somewhere,” she said as she handed the spare grapple gun back.
“I knew it was a long shot anyway. Plenty of spaces for them to duck into,” the Shadow responded.
“Something happen?”
“I helped avert a mugging. But the fourth vigilante and the actual fifth also responded.”
“Did the fifth have a name? Or is that being hidden as well?” Philippa asked.
The Shadow considered Philippa’s question. ‘It will come out soon enough, even if the Enigma’s hasn’t.’ She thought some more. “Dafoanairi, but I would keep that to yourself for now.”
“Dafoanairi,” Philippa repeated before yawning. “Something to consider in the morning.”
“I’ll get you home.”
Daria and Sandi met back in front of the Oscorp office they were examining earlier. “That went well,” the latter said.
“Except the mugger got away.”
Sandi shrugged. “Burnout Girl got her stuff back.”
“You mean, Jennifer, right,” Daria said. “I’m not sure why she has that nickname.”
“Jennifer, of course.”
“Anyway, she’s in the play.”
“I see,” Sandi said.
“And I have now met the rest of the vigilantes. I still have no idea who they are.”
“Maybe if you spend more time with them.”
“Maybe, but I’ll continue as I have been,” Daria said as she peered into an office window.
As she and Philippa headed back towards Glen Oaks Lane, the Shadow considered her encounter with Dafoanairi. ‘She was quiet and was pitching her voice up. But I change my voice, SpiderGirl speaks confidently, Ninja Talon pitches hers down and the Enigma speaks blandly.’ No proof to identities there.
SpiderGirl emerged at the usual time. She reflected on the changes in herself and those around her. ‘Before I got bit by that spider and Daddy died, I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would be a superhero and helping to run a theatre at my young age.
A short while later, she heard something to the north and swung away.
Lawndale Sun-Herald
Sunday, February 18, 2001
Cafes in Cranberry Commons losing Customers
Jennifer Burns arrived at the Historia at 12:30. The previous night’s experience had had her jittery. More than Groundhog Day had. She went up to the counter.
“How may I serve you?” Stacy Rowe asked.
“Hamburger with coffee,” Jennifer responded quietly.
“Got it!” Stacy said.
“So, you’re in the play?” Stacy asked when she had passed the order on.
“As a stagehand,” Jennifer said. “I’m not cut out to be an actor.”
“You won’t know until you try.”
“Have you tried?”
“Yes,” Stacy admitted. “It’s much like when I’m behind the wheel. Exhilarating. As long as I don’t look at the audience.”
“I still don’t quite believe you street race.”
“It will start up again soon. I hope the vigilantes won’t get in the way.”
“They might,” Jennifer mused. “I’d inevitably look at the audience.”
“I try looking at the fellow actors or offstage.”
“I guess so.”
Quentin arrived at 1:00. ‘I’m sure Quinn said she’d be here.’ He entered the café and looked around. No Quinn. But he did see a girl with long auburn hair who he supposed was her sister eating with a girl with raven black hair and blue eyes.
“Hello, you’re one of the Morgendorffers?”
“Who’s asking?” Daria asked.
“Quentin Beck.”
“The new special effects person? Yes, I’m Daria, and that’s Jane.”
“Yo!” Jane said. “I’m involved in the set design.”
“Quinn says that you select the plays?”
“To put it succinctly yes. Quinn will be here soon, you can order some lunch while you’re waiting. The rehearsals won’t start for another hour and a half,” Daria said.
“I will do that,” Beck said.
Ninja Talon arrived on the top of the Historia, where SpiderGirl was waiting. “Ready for the play?” the latter asked.
“I am,” Ninja Talon answered. “But you’re worried about something?”
“Two things. First, Daria knows the Enigma’s secret identity. Second: I have hired the special effects artist.”
Ninja Talon thought about the first point. “How do you know?”
“Jane saw the note she had made and told us at Dinner,” SpiderGirl answered. “It’s on her wall, where she has been putting newspaper articles about me up.”
“Oh. It must be because she has been spending a lot of time with her.”
“That’s obvious. It’s making me even more wary of spending any amount of time with Dafoanairi. I don’t want her figuring out that I’m her sister that way.”
Ninja Talon still wasn’t sure that SpiderGirl was right about that. Dafoanairi didn’t remind her of Daria much. She decided to change the topic. “But the special effects person?”
“He was rather condescending when he saw that I was the one doing the interview. The others weren’t so much. They were more likely to believe that teens would be running a theatre.”
“And you think you made the wrong choice?”
“I rarely second-guess myself, Talon. It’s like an intuition, but not normal intuition. The Spider Sense isn’t tingling either. Something just seems off. Like, why would someone from Hollywood come to Lawndale?”
“I’m not sure, Spidey, but I’ll help you figure it out.”
“Thanks,” SpiderGirl said as she looked at her friend, and then around at the town. “Let’s go down.”
Quinn and Brittany entered the café. “There he is,” Quinn said, as she pointed out Quentin to Brittany.
“I see,” Brittany said. “I’ll talk to Daria and Jane.”
Quinn ordered and found Stacy where she was sitting near one of the windows. “Hey, Stacy.”
“It’s been a busy morning,” Stacy said.
“Like, everyone in Lawndale is curious about the Historia now,” Quinn said.
“The interest has only grown since the opening, which is why this is a good time for the play to start.”
“Which is what I said in the interview yesterday.”
“Something up?” Stacy asked.
“It’s just that I have a bad feeling about Beck.”
“And yet you hired him?”
“His credentials are good, better than the others I interviewed,” Quinn explained.
“Maybe you should keep an eye on him,” Stacy suggested.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“He’s coming over now.”
Quentin found Quinn next to a window, talking to the pigtailed waitress. “Good afternoon,” he said.
“Quentin, this is Stacy.”
He sat down.
“Hi,” Stacy said shyly.
“We are having lunch first,” Quinn said. “Then we will talk in the theatre.”
Quentin nodded.
Brittany ordered and then sat with Daria and Jane. “Hi, Daria, Jane.”
“Hi, Brittany,” Daria said. “I’m sure you’re ready for the play.”
“Isn’t that what the rehearsal is for?” Brittany asked.
“Yes,” Daria said. “But it takes more than that.”
“That’s true. I have read up on various Shakespeare plays, not just The Tempest,” Brittany responded.
“That’s a great start, Brittany,” Daria said with a slight smile.
“Something else,” Brittany added in a serious tone and a glance at Jane.
“Yes?” Daria asked.
“I’m wondering If you would tutor me, like how Quinn is doing with the former misfits and Angie?”
“I saw how Mr. DeMartino reacted when you got that B-,” Daria said.
“And you want to get similar reactions from other teachers?” Jane asked.
“That’s part of it,” Brittany asked. “I know I can do better than I have been.”
“I’ll have to consider it,” Daria answered. “You know I’m busy with the theatre, and the investigation.”
“But the latter can take longer?” Brittany asked. ‘Two birds with one stone,’ she thought. ‘She can help me achieve academically, and she’ll probably take longer to figure out I’m Ninja Talon and Quinn, SpiderGirl.’
“That’s a good point,” Jane said.
Daria sighed. “True. It is a long-term project anyway. We can start tomorrow, after school.”
“That will be great!” Brittany enthused.
Daria winced at the squeak.
“Sorry.”
Philippa entered the Historia café and saw that Jennifer was there. ‘Why do people call her ‘Burnout Girl’ anyway.’ It made no sense to her. ‘Sure, her last name is Burns, but…’ She went to order something.
“Hi Jennifer.”
Jennifer looked and saw that it was Philippa Bynon. “Hi Philippa,” she said quietly.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Sure.”
Philippa sat down. “Is Daria as good as they say she is?”
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked.
“That she is a good writer?”
“I have read some of the script. I would say she has done a good job of updating Shakespeare’s themes.”
Shortly afterwards, Quinn, Daria and Jane showed Quentin in the theatre. “It’s fairly small.” Quentin commented.
“There are about 300 seats,” Quinn said.
“I meant the stage,” Quentin said. “Although the room is large.”
“It doesn’t seem that small,” Daria said. “Besides we have practiced already. There is plenty of room, and this isn’t the only theatre in Lawndale dating from the same era.”
“I noticed that it’s Art Deco,” Quentin said. “Anyway, I can work with this. I just need to see the rehearsal and I can go from there. You have projectors, right.”
“Of course,” Quinn said. “There were many that still work in storage, and the main projector had been updated a few years ago.”
“That’s great!” Quentin said. He looked at the stage again. “I must say that the set looks great.”
“Once Daria described the play, and I read the script, I knew what it needed,” Jane said humbly.
The various actors soon arrived.
Brittany had been practicing when she could. The role of Ariel had intrigued her, as one who felt trapped in her role as cheerleader. (Another reason she had become Ninja Talon, as a way to escape that feeling.) She went up to the other actors. The one playing Prospero, was interesting as he had said he went to Feilding. ‘Is he looking for an escape too?’ she wondered.
Daria read over the cast list again, to make sure that everyone had arrived.
Brittany Taylor as Ariel
Tom Sloane as Prospero
Veronica Boden as Miranda
Wolfgang Shuhart as Caliban
Elias Howarth as Antonio
Ted Dewit-Clinton as Ferdinand
Corey Bateman as Stephano
Skyler Fieldman as Trinculo
Robert Korleski as Gonzalo
Cindy Brolsma as Juno
Tania Ashworth as Ceres
Nadia Blackwood as Iris
…
She looked around. All of them were there. “Ready?” she asked.
“I’m ready,” Brittany answered, as enthusiastically as she did earlier.
Quinn watched as the rehearsal began. She knew that Daria had re-imagined the boatswain as a bus driver. ‘I knew that she would do something like that.’
“…Heavens thank you for it. And now I beseech you, father, for my mind races regarding your reason for raising this storm,” Veronica said in her role as Miranda.
“Know this. It’s a strange accident, beautiful fortune. My enemies are now coming and by my prescience I find my rise does depend on a most auspicious star, whose influence I must court or else my fortunes will be reduced. Now cease your questions, for you are ready for sleep. Approach my Ariel,” Tom said as Prospero.
Brittany entered the stage and spoke. “All hail, great master, grave sir, hail. I come to answer thy best pleasure; be ‘t to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all her quality.”
The rehearsal took two and half hours and finished at about five.
“You all did rather well,” Daria said. “Not bad at all for a first rehearsal.”
Brittany came down from the stage. “Thanks, Daria. That means a lot.”
“I know keeping the 17th Century language for Ariel must have been difficult.”
“Not that difficult at all. I have read Shakespeare since I was young.”
“But speaking it is different to reading it,” Daria said.
Brittany twirled a pigtail. “I suppose so.”
Tori Jericho had watched it, as Quinn had invited her and her mother to watch. She turned to her mother. “What do you think?” she asked.
“Daria certainly is one to watch,” Penelope Jericho said. “She’s adapted the play very well for a young writer.”
“She would be glad to hear that,” Quinn said. “She said that translating Shakespeare’s English into modern American English took up most of the time.”
“I imagine it would,” Penelope said.
“So, those goggles have night vision?” Philippa asked.
“Yes, amongst other modes.”
“And you don’t have powers?”
“I’m neither confirming nor denying. Let’s just say I wouldn’t be doing this without these gadgets,” the Shadow explained. “It’s like my own play. It seems that in the drama of Lawndale, I have taken this role to help.”
“And the other vigilantes?”
“SpiderGirl does have powers. But I am not sure if her webs are organic or not. Ninja Talon seems to be just a teenager skilled in martial arts who also uses some gadgets alongside her weapons. The fourth vigilante is telekinetic and can project energy blasts. I haven’t yet met the apparent fifth.”
“You don’t know what name she’s taken?” Philippa asked.
“I do, but it seems she wants to remain in the shadows as she helps Lawndale in her way. I just hope any battle between her and SpiderGirl is short.”
The Shadow was about to say more, but she then heard something to the northwest of the Historia, in Dega Street. “Duty calls!” she said to Philippa.
“You are going to leave me here?” Philippa asked.
“You’d be a liability. I trained with my mentor a while before I started doing this,” the Shadow then handed her the spare grapple gun. “It is relatively easy to use. But I’ll be back soon. Keep an eye on Daria and Sandi.”
Daria and Sandi also heard the noise as they examined an Oscorp building. “What’s that?” Daria asked.
“Sounds like something to respond to,” Sandi replied.
Daria nodded. “Right. There are plenty of places along here…”
Sandi nodded and ran off to some cover.
‘What are they doing?’ Philippa wondered.
The Enigma and Dafoanairi then met up. “What do you think it is?” the latter asked.
“Not sure,” the Enigma said as she led the way.
‘Great! They disappeared!’ Philippa thought. ‘What will the Shadow say?’ She kept looking.
The Shadow came to the spot first. A person who had just left the Zon/Zen had been mugged. She sighted the mugger running from the scene down the street. She moved into action, appearing in her usual dramatic fashion through dry ice. “Going somewhere?”
“Shadow!” the mugger said, before throwing his ill-gotten wares at the vigilante and running off. But then was cut off by energy blasts.
“Like, what the Shadow said, going somewhere?” the Enigma asked.
“Don’t need your help,” the Shadow said. “But’s it’s appreciated.” She then returned the items to the victim who was nearby.
“Thanks, Shadow,” the young lady, whom she knew in passing from Lawndale High, said.
‘Burnout Girl or Jennifer Burns, I’m sure it is,’ the Shadow thought. “You’re welcome. Remember. Crime in Lawndale is getting worse.”
“I didn’t quite believe it, even after Groundhog Day,” the blonde girl said before turning and leaving.
The Shadow turned and saw that the Enigma had left. ‘Of course.’ Then she saw another cloaked figure nearby, holding some sort of staff. “Who are you?” she asked.
“So, you’re the Shadow,” the other said in a high, yet quiet voice.
“Yes. And you are?”
“Dafoanairi. I helped SpiderGirl and Ninja Talon at the Solarium as Lawndale’s Fifth Snarky Vigilante.”
“I see and you use that staff?”
“Yes. It has been effective.”
“Effective is good,” the Shadow said. “Lawndale needs all the help it can get. But I need to get going.”
“Of course.”
Philippa didn’t need to wait long before the Shadow returned. “I’m afraid, Daria and Sandi disappeared somewhere,” she said as she handed the spare grapple gun back.
“I knew it was a long shot anyway. Plenty of spaces for them to duck into,” the Shadow responded.
“Something happen?”
“I helped avert a mugging. But the fourth vigilante and the actual fifth also responded.”
“Did the fifth have a name? Or is that being hidden as well?” Philippa asked.
The Shadow considered Philippa’s question. ‘It will come out soon enough, even if the Enigma’s hasn’t.’ She thought some more. “Dafoanairi, but I would keep that to yourself for now.”
“Dafoanairi,” Philippa repeated before yawning. “Something to consider in the morning.”
“I’ll get you home.”
Daria and Sandi met back in front of the Oscorp office they were examining earlier. “That went well,” the latter said.
“Except the mugger got away.”
Sandi shrugged. “Burnout Girl got her stuff back.”
“You mean, Jennifer, right,” Daria said. “I’m not sure why she has that nickname.”
“Jennifer, of course.”
“Anyway, she’s in the play.”
“I see,” Sandi said.
“And I have now met the rest of the vigilantes. I still have no idea who they are.”
“Maybe if you spend more time with them.”
“Maybe, but I’ll continue as I have been,” Daria said as she peered into an office window.
As she and Philippa headed back towards Glen Oaks Lane, the Shadow considered her encounter with Dafoanairi. ‘She was quiet and was pitching her voice up. But I change my voice, SpiderGirl speaks confidently, Ninja Talon pitches hers down and the Enigma speaks blandly.’ No proof to identities there.
SpiderGirl emerged at the usual time. She reflected on the changes in herself and those around her. ‘Before I got bit by that spider and Daddy died, I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would be a superhero and helping to run a theatre at my young age.
A short while later, she heard something to the north and swung away.
Lawndale Sun-Herald
Sunday, February 18, 2001
Cafes in Cranberry Commons losing Customers
Jennifer Burns arrived at the Historia at 12:30. The previous night’s experience had had her jittery. More than Groundhog Day had. She went up to the counter.
“How may I serve you?” Stacy Rowe asked.
“Hamburger with coffee,” Jennifer responded quietly.
“Got it!” Stacy said.
“So, you’re in the play?” Stacy asked when she had passed the order on.
“As a stagehand,” Jennifer said. “I’m not cut out to be an actor.”
“You won’t know until you try.”
“Have you tried?”
“Yes,” Stacy admitted. “It’s much like when I’m behind the wheel. Exhilarating. As long as I don’t look at the audience.”
“I still don’t quite believe you street race.”
“It will start up again soon. I hope the vigilantes won’t get in the way.”
“They might,” Jennifer mused. “I’d inevitably look at the audience.”
“I try looking at the fellow actors or offstage.”
“I guess so.”
Quentin arrived at 1:00. ‘I’m sure Quinn said she’d be here.’ He entered the café and looked around. No Quinn. But he did see a girl with long auburn hair who he supposed was her sister eating with a girl with raven black hair and blue eyes.
“Hello, you’re one of the Morgendorffers?”
“Who’s asking?” Daria asked.
“Quentin Beck.”
“The new special effects person? Yes, I’m Daria, and that’s Jane.”
“Yo!” Jane said. “I’m involved in the set design.”
“Quinn says that you select the plays?”
“To put it succinctly yes. Quinn will be here soon, you can order some lunch while you’re waiting. The rehearsals won’t start for another hour and a half,” Daria said.
“I will do that,” Beck said.
Ninja Talon arrived on the top of the Historia, where SpiderGirl was waiting. “Ready for the play?” the latter asked.
“I am,” Ninja Talon answered. “But you’re worried about something?”
“Two things. First, Daria knows the Enigma’s secret identity. Second: I have hired the special effects artist.”
Ninja Talon thought about the first point. “How do you know?”
“Jane saw the note she had made and told us at Dinner,” SpiderGirl answered. “It’s on her wall, where she has been putting newspaper articles about me up.”
“Oh. It must be because she has been spending a lot of time with her.”
“That’s obvious. It’s making me even more wary of spending any amount of time with Dafoanairi. I don’t want her figuring out that I’m her sister that way.”
Ninja Talon still wasn’t sure that SpiderGirl was right about that. Dafoanairi didn’t remind her of Daria much. She decided to change the topic. “But the special effects person?”
“He was rather condescending when he saw that I was the one doing the interview. The others weren’t so much. They were more likely to believe that teens would be running a theatre.”
“And you think you made the wrong choice?”
“I rarely second-guess myself, Talon. It’s like an intuition, but not normal intuition. The Spider Sense isn’t tingling either. Something just seems off. Like, why would someone from Hollywood come to Lawndale?”
“I’m not sure, Spidey, but I’ll help you figure it out.”
“Thanks,” SpiderGirl said as she looked at her friend, and then around at the town. “Let’s go down.”
Quinn and Brittany entered the café. “There he is,” Quinn said, as she pointed out Quentin to Brittany.
“I see,” Brittany said. “I’ll talk to Daria and Jane.”
Quinn ordered and found Stacy where she was sitting near one of the windows. “Hey, Stacy.”
“It’s been a busy morning,” Stacy said.
“Like, everyone in Lawndale is curious about the Historia now,” Quinn said.
“The interest has only grown since the opening, which is why this is a good time for the play to start.”
“Which is what I said in the interview yesterday.”
“Something up?” Stacy asked.
“It’s just that I have a bad feeling about Beck.”
“And yet you hired him?”
“His credentials are good, better than the others I interviewed,” Quinn explained.
“Maybe you should keep an eye on him,” Stacy suggested.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“He’s coming over now.”
Quentin found Quinn next to a window, talking to the pigtailed waitress. “Good afternoon,” he said.
“Quentin, this is Stacy.”
He sat down.
“Hi,” Stacy said shyly.
“We are having lunch first,” Quinn said. “Then we will talk in the theatre.”
Quentin nodded.
Brittany ordered and then sat with Daria and Jane. “Hi, Daria, Jane.”
“Hi, Brittany,” Daria said. “I’m sure you’re ready for the play.”
“Isn’t that what the rehearsal is for?” Brittany asked.
“Yes,” Daria said. “But it takes more than that.”
“That’s true. I have read up on various Shakespeare plays, not just The Tempest,” Brittany responded.
“That’s a great start, Brittany,” Daria said with a slight smile.
“Something else,” Brittany added in a serious tone and a glance at Jane.
“Yes?” Daria asked.
“I’m wondering If you would tutor me, like how Quinn is doing with the former misfits and Angie?”
“I saw how Mr. DeMartino reacted when you got that B-,” Daria said.
“And you want to get similar reactions from other teachers?” Jane asked.
“That’s part of it,” Brittany asked. “I know I can do better than I have been.”
“I’ll have to consider it,” Daria answered. “You know I’m busy with the theatre, and the investigation.”
“But the latter can take longer?” Brittany asked. ‘Two birds with one stone,’ she thought. ‘She can help me achieve academically, and she’ll probably take longer to figure out I’m Ninja Talon and Quinn, SpiderGirl.’
“That’s a good point,” Jane said.
Daria sighed. “True. It is a long-term project anyway. We can start tomorrow, after school.”
“That will be great!” Brittany enthused.
Daria winced at the squeak.
“Sorry.”
Philippa entered the Historia café and saw that Jennifer was there. ‘Why do people call her ‘Burnout Girl’ anyway.’ It made no sense to her. ‘Sure, her last name is Burns, but…’ She went to order something.
“Hi Jennifer.”
Jennifer looked and saw that it was Philippa Bynon. “Hi Philippa,” she said quietly.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Sure.”
Philippa sat down. “Is Daria as good as they say she is?”
“What do you mean?” Jennifer asked.
“That she is a good writer?”
“I have read some of the script. I would say she has done a good job of updating Shakespeare’s themes.”
Shortly afterwards, Quinn, Daria and Jane showed Quentin in the theatre. “It’s fairly small.” Quentin commented.
“There are about 300 seats,” Quinn said.
“I meant the stage,” Quentin said. “Although the room is large.”
“It doesn’t seem that small,” Daria said. “Besides we have practiced already. There is plenty of room, and this isn’t the only theatre in Lawndale dating from the same era.”
“I noticed that it’s Art Deco,” Quentin said. “Anyway, I can work with this. I just need to see the rehearsal and I can go from there. You have projectors, right.”
“Of course,” Quinn said. “There were many that still work in storage, and the main projector had been updated a few years ago.”
“That’s great!” Quentin said. He looked at the stage again. “I must say that the set looks great.”
“Once Daria described the play, and I read the script, I knew what it needed,” Jane said humbly.
The various actors soon arrived.
Brittany had been practicing when she could. The role of Ariel had intrigued her, as one who felt trapped in her role as cheerleader. (Another reason she had become Ninja Talon, as a way to escape that feeling.) She went up to the other actors. The one playing Prospero, was interesting as he had said he went to Feilding. ‘Is he looking for an escape too?’ she wondered.
Daria read over the cast list again, to make sure that everyone had arrived.
Brittany Taylor as Ariel
Tom Sloane as Prospero
Veronica Boden as Miranda
Wolfgang Shuhart as Caliban
Elias Howarth as Antonio
Ted Dewit-Clinton as Ferdinand
Corey Bateman as Stephano
Skyler Fieldman as Trinculo
Robert Korleski as Gonzalo
Cindy Brolsma as Juno
Tania Ashworth as Ceres
Nadia Blackwood as Iris
…
She looked around. All of them were there. “Ready?” she asked.
“I’m ready,” Brittany answered, as enthusiastically as she did earlier.
Quinn watched as the rehearsal began. She knew that Daria had re-imagined the boatswain as a bus driver. ‘I knew that she would do something like that.’
“…Heavens thank you for it. And now I beseech you, father, for my mind races regarding your reason for raising this storm,” Veronica said in her role as Miranda.
“Know this. It’s a strange accident, beautiful fortune. My enemies are now coming and by my prescience I find my rise does depend on a most auspicious star, whose influence I must court or else my fortunes will be reduced. Now cease your questions, for you are ready for sleep. Approach my Ariel,” Tom said as Prospero.
Brittany entered the stage and spoke. “All hail, great master, grave sir, hail. I come to answer thy best pleasure; be ‘t to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curled clouds, to thy strong bidding task Ariel and all her quality.”
The rehearsal took two and half hours and finished at about five.
“You all did rather well,” Daria said. “Not bad at all for a first rehearsal.”
Brittany came down from the stage. “Thanks, Daria. That means a lot.”
“I know keeping the 17th Century language for Ariel must have been difficult.”
“Not that difficult at all. I have read Shakespeare since I was young.”
“But speaking it is different to reading it,” Daria said.
Brittany twirled a pigtail. “I suppose so.”
Tori Jericho had watched it, as Quinn had invited her and her mother to watch. She turned to her mother. “What do you think?” she asked.
“Daria certainly is one to watch,” Penelope Jericho said. “She’s adapted the play very well for a young writer.”
“She would be glad to hear that,” Quinn said. “She said that translating Shakespeare’s English into modern American English took up most of the time.”
“I imagine it would,” Penelope said.