Shhhh....

One of the things that I love about Young Son's whole-child-focused-parent-participation-hands-on-learning-school is the class plays. This week Young Son's 4th grade class put on four performances of No Talking, adapted from the book of the same name by author Andrew Clements. The following review is just to give you an idea of the storyline...

From a reveiw in School Library Journal-

Dave Packer's fifth-grade classmates are so boisterous and difficult to quiet down that the teachers have dubbed them "The Unshushables." Dave has just read about Mahatma Gandhi and learned that the man practiced silence one day a week to bring order to his mind. Though Dave likes to talk nonstop, he's determined to give the idea a try. An encounter with Lynsey, another chatterbox, sparks the boys and girls into challenging each other to a no-talking contest for 48 hours. They can answer direct questions from adults with three-word sentences but must otherwise remain silent. The teachers are bewildered at the extreme change in the kids until several of them figure out what's going on. Principal Hiatt demands that the quiet students return to their normal behavior. When the children continue with their silent ways, Dave finds himself at the center of the controversy.

Young Son played the part of Jeremy. His big on-stage moment occurred in the playground scene when one of the girls kisses him on the cheek in order to provoke a verbal outburst- something explicitly outlawed by the rules of the No Talking contest. It's not a real kiss of course- it's all done with their backs to the audience and a big kissy sound effect.

Or at least that's the way it's supposed to go...

During Thursday evening's performance, Young Son was particularly animated as he recited his big line. As a matter of fact, he was so believable that the audience might have thought that he really did just get kissed.

Those audience members would be right.

The girl playing the part of the kiss-er decided to make it a little more believable and planted one right on Young Son's cheek! Young Son reacted just as you would expect and almost-11-year-old-boy to react having just received a KISS! from A GIRL! ONSTAGE!

And he recited his line, EWWW! YUCK! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!!! HELP ME GET THIS STUFF OFF MY FACE!!! perfectly.