𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ━ shawn hunter¹

20│THE PLAY'S THE THING

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❛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ ᴇʏᴇꜱ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀʏ's ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ꒱


❝ CRAM IT, BRILLO-HEAD ❞

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"Good morning, class," came Mr. Feeny's traditional greeting. "I would like you to let out your most agonized groan." The class half-heartedly did as instructed and he continued: "good. Now, let's start planning out springtime class play." The groan returned, this time full-force. "Been there, heard that. Now, before you give up in despair, you may want to hear my play selection. It has sword fights, murder, skills— even ghosts! How does that sound?"

"Sounds like Spielberg," Cory observed.

"Sounds like Shakespeare," Mr. Feeny corrected him.

"At least it doesn't sound like Romeo and Juliet," Juliet said.

At the same time Shawn added, "sounds like a loser."

"We will be doing selected scenes from the play Hamlet," Mr. Feeny continued as he handed out the books. "Mr. Hunter, in parlance of the theater you will be a spear carrier."

"Excellent. So this guy I play is like, what, a warrior and a hero?"

"Try a side act," the redhead commented.

"A side act who has the fewest lines to memorize," their teacher specified. "Miss Lawrence, you will be playing the tragic heroine, Ophelia. Now, this is a challenging role as she goes quite insane."

"Topanga, insane? What a stretch," Cory commented sarcastically.

"Shawn," the redhead said pointedly. The dark-haired boy leaned forward to obediently smack Cory on the back of the head which prompted an "ow!" from the boy.

"If I were a less evolved person, I'd say 'cram it, brillo-head,'" Topanga responded shortly.

"Or you could say 'don't be an idiot, nerf hair,'" Juliet offered with a grin.

"Mr. Minkus, you will be playing the role of the wise old Polonius," Mr. Feeny continued.

"Polonius? He only has forty-eight lines. I sort of pictured myself as the melancholy Dane," Minkus said.

"For those of you unfamiliar with the reference, Mr. Minkus means the lead role, Prince Hamlet. Now, this is a tricky part to cast because Hamlet gets on a lot of people's nerves. He makes one stupid mistake after another and for five whole acts he never shuts up," Mr. Feeny described the role and everyone turned to look at Cory.

"What?" the boy asked obliviously. "Do I have a booger?"

"Idiot," Juliet muttered.

"Miss Capelwood, I originally planned for you to be Ophelia, but given your distaste for damsels in distress I have allotted for you to play Gertrude."

"Sweet, I get to kill people!" she paused and frowned. "But I also have to marry my brother, yuck."

"Not to fear, Miss Capelwood. You will not be related to who is cast as Claudius."

"At least I don't have to die at the ripe old age of fourteen," the girl said.

"Hey, in Medieval times that was old."

🌎🌎🌎

"To be or not to be, that is the question," Cory said as he rehearsed his lines. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of blah, blah, blah." He slammed his book shut in frustration. "Mr. Feeny, who wrote this garbage?"