The Forbidden Six

July 19th, 1937

Liese waved to Elisa as she walked into her acting class. They were in a recently renovated building in the downtown part of Kassel. They would all meet in the lobby and then go to a room to start the class. Liese was the last one to the class. The teachers, Johann and Kalli, did a head count. When they counted eleven students, they started walking to their classroom.

"Oh, mein Gott, our play is only five days away," Liese squealed to Elisa as they walked to the classroom.

They were going to put on "The Winter's Tale" by Shakespeare. They were deep into rehearsals and the play loomed ahead of them; it was only five days away. Liese was going to play the Clown and one of the lords. There were three lords in total.

The play was about two kings. The king of Bohemia, Polixenes, and the king of Sicilia, Leontes. Leontes's wife was named Hermione and she was nine months pregnant. Leontes and Polixenes were best friends and Polixenes had been visiting his friend for nine months. Leontes believed Hermione was cheating so he sent her to prison. While she was in prison, she had a baby. Baby Perdita was found by shepherds after she was abandoned and falls in love with Polixenes's son once she is grown. Chaos ensues.

When Liese first joined the group, she knew a few people. It was through BDM and so it was mostly girls who she knew through BDM. One of the members that Liese knew was Elisa. They had agreed to sign up together. At first they were on the waiting list but both of them miraculously got in.

"Liese," one of her castmates said, bringing her out of her thoughts, "What's the history fact for the day?"

Every day, Liese had a few history facts that she would tell her castmates. Her eyes flicked to the ceiling like they usually did when she was remembering something.

"Uhm, today in 1848, the first women's rights convention was held in New York and it was hosted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrieta... Mott. In 1903, the first Tour de France was held. It's also Lizzie Borden's birthday."

"Isn't she the ax murderer?" Elisa wondered.

Liese shrugged "She might not be. We don't know."

One of the teachers started the warmups and the talking died out. They did a series of tongue twisters and vocal warmups. After the warmups and a few games, they started rehearsing. They were working on a dance scene. Everyone in the cast was needed for the scene. While the main characters talked in the front, the others would dance in the background.

When the talking was over, the entire group would clasp hands and spin in a circle. Then they would get into a vertical line and kneel down. As the person behind them stood up, they would too, resulting in a sort of wave look. The scene would end dramatically and they would run off stage.

When the scene was over, Liese quickly clapped her hands twice like she did when she was excited.

"This play is going to be so fun." She smiled. Elisa nodded, her eyes shining with joy.

On July 24th, everyone arrived at the site of the play at one in the afternoon. Liese paused as she looked at the outdoor stage. The sun beat down upon the white stage, making it hard to look at. The stage was situated at the bottom of a hill. Seats lined the hill, Colosseum-like.

Elisa slid down the railing to get to the stage. walked up on it and grinned. Liese slowly descended the stairs, being careful not to trip.

"Hey, Liese," Elisa yelled to her as she stood, smiling on the stage. "Did you invite anyone?"

"I invited Werner. I don't expect him to show up. I mean, who wants to see a Shakespeare play? He's probably busy, anyway," she said. "What about you?"

Elisa climbed up the stairs to stand next to Liese. "Johannes Heesters," she answered, referencing the Dutch actor. "Because I am married to that man. You know how many times I have seen De Vier Mullers? A million plus one."