Saturday 14 January 2017

And another thing schools prevent us from enjoying...

Museums, galleries, events, lectures, family stuff and, worst of all, theatre.

I see these events come round on the calender, glance at the diary, and think, pft, school.

We have this problem. Sunday to Thursday, watch the New Rule: No late nights with early mornings.

It's not my rule. I tried taking the tribe to the RSC on a Wednesday, with my lip curled and my teen face of Stuff you, we can do what we like. But watching my red-eyed Shark stagger up at 6.30am after a snatch of sleep is too cruel a blow for me to inflict.

So I look forward to the weekend! And don't count Friday evenings. Shark is off with her Sea Shanty Chums.

Then how much can we pack into Saturday and Sunday without everyone feeling miserably stressed, everyone missing something, yearning come Monday for the lost loafing time. What happened to lolling in a chair last weekend with a book?

School imposes a structure on our unstructured time. It eats into family life and stops us from taking a part in the cultural life around us. Then they have the nerve to lecture us about enrichment.

But this month we managed, at least, Two Noble Kinsmen at Stratford, Saturday matinee performance. That time comes with its own special disadvantages on a breezy, blowy summer day, so I'm grateful for the grey day and light drizzle outside. And the performance is good. I recommend it!

The casting is excellent: Palamon and Arcite are well played as two young men who are self-regarding slaves of a chivalric code to their obsession: their mutual, ultimately destructive love of Emilia. For her part, there's a hint of same-sex attraction to her maid, which makes me wonder if the time is right for a general airing and working of this play with its gender-exploring themes. Anyway, discussion to be wrangled in the car on the way home before Shark has to crack on with homework.

I can only look at the diary and hope we can squeeze in another performance in half-term.

But I'm still struggling. What can schools offer but a 9-5 mentality and a conveyor belt process?

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