3 Knock, Knock. Who’s There

ACT 3 KNOCK, KNOCK WHO'S THERE?

Amanda Beth started Tuesday off with a joke. "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" asked the Sprites. "Toby." "Toby who?" "To-by or not to be. That is the question." "To be or not to be. That's a famous Shakespeare line!" Sophie said. "Good for you," said Amanda Beth. "Did you know we have Shakespeare to thank for the first knock-knock joke?" "For real?" asked Stink. "In his play Macbeth, you can find the lines 'Knock, knock. Who's there?' when someone knocks on Macbeth's door." Sophie looked at the Shakespeare quotes on the walls. She made up her own joke. "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" asked Stink. "Arthur." "Arthur who?" "Arthur world's a stage. Get it? All the world's a stage. It's another famous line."

"Good one!" said Stink. "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" asked Sophie. "Hal." "Hal who?" Riley butted in. "Hal do I know? I've only been at Shakespeare camp for like a day." Riley snorted. "You're funny, Stink. I got one. Knock, knock." "Who's there?" asked Stink. "Puck." "Puck's my favorite sprite!" said Sophie. "From A Midsummer Night's Dream." "Puck who?" asked Stink. "Pucker up, Stink." Riley puckered up her lips. Mwah, mwah. "More like puke," Stink teased back.

"Before Shakespeare camp is over," said Riley, "I predict you, Stink E. Moody, will be getting a big fat sloppy wet one." Riley Rottenberger sure had kissing on the brain. "Remember I told you we'd be doing some fun activities to warm up our voices?" said Amanda Beth. "Let's try some tongue twisters today. Tongue twisters aren't just fun, they help us learn to speak clearly. No need to use indoor voices here. I want your voices to be big and bold. Ready?" "Ready!" "Repeat after me," said Amanda Beth. "Red leather, yellow leather." "Red leather, yellow leather," said the Sprites. "Smelly shoes and socks shock sisters." "Smelly shoes and socks shock sisters," said the Sprites. "Wow. You guys are too good at this. Red blood, blue blood. Three times fast." "Red blood, blue blood. Red bud, boo bud. Red blue, blood bread."

"Gotcha!" said Amanda Beth, and she chuckled. "Good work. But remember, acting is not just speaking. It's remembering lines, speaking them clearly, using expression, and moving around the stage. You don't want to be up onstage like this." Amanda Beth stood stiff as a board, arms at her sides. "It helps to loosen up our muscles before going on. Let's get up and stretch." Amanda Beth had them reach to the sky, then down to the floor. Amanda Beth had them leap in the air. Amanda Beth had them shake their hands and heads and feet. She even had them stretch their faces by pretending to scream.

"Now we should all be ready to play some acting games. Role-playing is pretending to be somebody else. Think about how a person would feel, what they might say or do. We call this getting into character." Hazel had to pretend to be an old man and Harper was his new puppy. Sophie and Lily acted like soccer players and Macy was their whistleblowing coach.