Question from Stage Management today! Pot cheese is a lot like cottage cheese, but less milky. Think a cross between cottage cheese or ricotta and farmers' cheese or queso blanco.
In my research for Claire about the life of a Grand Duchess, I found a pretty amusing passage about the relationship between Grand Duchess Xenia and her husband. It's a little long but I promise you it's worth it.
Xenia's romance with Alexander, when it came, was fast and furious, intense to the point of embarrassment. Nicholas [II] reported to his brother George, "They have become quite impossible, presumably from prolonged yearning and being so used to each other. They spend the who day kissing, embracing, and lying around on the furniture in the most improper manner." A month later George, having spent some time with his sister and her fiance, was forced to agree: "I was indeed amazed at the gymnastics, sucking, sniffing and similar activities which these two people indulged in all day long. They almost broke the ottoman and behaved in the most improper way; for instance they would lie down on top of each other, even in my presence, in what you might call an attempt to play Papa and Mama."
"They almost broke the ottoman." That's all have have to say. They almost broke the ottoman.
We have a couple of details to help figure out what kind of snakes Grandpa might be collecting. While the most common type of snake in Westchester County is the garter snake, these creatures cannot digest the exoskeletons of insects. Since the snakes are fed flies in the play, we can cross garter snakes off the list.
It is likely that Grandpa is not collecting venomous snakes, nor enormous snakes, so the ones living with the Sycamores are most likely green, redbelly, brown, and ringneck snakes -- the Environmental Information Series describes these NY-native snakes "small, slender, and completely benign species that feed on insects, spiders, earthworms and slugs."
Tangentially related, and very weird, here's a picture of a 1930s Burlesque dancer walking her pet snake:
Today, the question of who might have served during World War I came up. There was a draft, starting in 1917, and it initially took men aged 21 - 31. This was later opened up to men aged 18 - 45. All men registered, but not all were called upon to serve. The chart above helps determine the likelihood of being called into active service. Generally, the drafted came from Class I.
Both Mr. Kirby and Paul Sycamore would have fallen into a different class -- they were responsible for their spouse and young children, and the odds they would have been drafted were greatly decreased by that fact. Grandpa would have been to old for the draft; Ed too young; DePinna in Italy; and Kolenkhov in Russia. In fact, the most likely person to have been sent into service was Donald -- not that I think he was, but he would have been just at the cusp of the right age.
This is where I'll be posting answers to questions that come up in rehearsal, as well as answers to questions from the team that might be relevant to others.