Fun Facts About the Month of March

The name of March comes from ancient Rome, when March was the first month of the year and named Martius after Mars (Ares), the Greek god of war. In Rome, where the climate is Mediterranean, March was the first month of spring, a logical point for the beginning of the year as well as the start of the military campaign season. It’s one of seven months that is 31 days long.

Birthstones:    

Aquamarine - a gemstone was believed to protect sailors, as well as to guarantee a safe voyage. The serene color of aquamarine is said to cool the temper, allowing the wearer to remain calm and levelheaded.

  

Bloodstone - a dark-green jasper flecked with vivid red spots of iron oxide. This ancient stone was used by the Babylonians to make seals and amulets and was believed to have healing powers, especially for blood disorders. Sometimes called the martyr's stone as legend tells that it was created when drops of Christ's blood stained some jasper at the foot of the cross.

Birth flower: Daffodil - Cheerful yellow daffodils signal the end of winter cold and the return of warmer days. If you live in a moderate climate, daffodils are among the first flowers to bust into bloom every spring, making them a symbol of rebirth.

In the language of flowers, daffodils symbolize friendship, chivalry, respect, modesty and faithfulness. Apparently, the daffodil was originally called "affodell," a variant of asphodel. No one really knows why the letter "d" was added to the front of the name, but from at least the 1500s the flowers have been playfully known in literature as "Daffadown Dilly" or "daffadowndilly."

Daffodil is the common name for all members of the genus narcissus, and many people call daffodils narcissus. In North America, daffodils are also known as jonquils, the Spanish name for the flower. Daffodils range in size from 5-inch blooms on 2-foot stems to half-inch flowers on 2-inch stems and have a sweet fragrance.

March 1st: Ohio became 17th state (1803), Nebraska became 37th state (1867), Glenn Miller born (1904), Charles Lindbergh’s baby kidnapped (1932), President Kennedy established the Peace Corps (1961), 7 officials in the Nixon White House indicted for Watergate (1974)

March 2nd: Sam Houston born (1793), Texas declared independence from Mexico (1836)

March 3rd: Missouri Compromise passed (1820), Florida became 27th state (1845), Alexander Graham Bell born (1847)

March 4th: Vermont became 14th state (1791), President Franklin Roosevelt makes famous “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” inaugural address (1933)

March 5th: Boston Massacre (1770), Joseph Stalin died (1953), Winston Churchill made “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, MO (1946)

March 6th: Michelangelo born (1475), Elizabeth Barrett Browning born (1806), Fort Alamo fell to Mexican troops (1836)

March 7th: Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone (1876)

March 9th: Amerigo Vespucci born (1451), Yuri Gagarin born (1934)

March 10th: Salvation Army founded in the US (1880), Claire Booth Luce born (1903) 

March 12th: Juliette Low founded the Girl Scouts (1912)

March 14th: Albert Einstein born (1879)

March 15th: The Ides of March (Caesar’s assassination - 44 BC)

March 17th: St. Patrick’s Day

March 19th: Dr. David Livingstone born (1813), Wyatt Earp born (1848), William Jennings Bryan born (1860) 

March 20th: Henrik Ibsen born (1828)

March 21st: Johann Sebastian Bach born (1685)

March 22nd: The ERA was passed (1972)

March 23rd: Patrick Henry ignites American Revolution with his “give me liberty or give me death!” speech (1775)

March 24th: The Philippine Islands granted independence by President Franklin Roosevelt after almost 50 years of US control (1934), Harry Houdini born (1874), Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989)

March 26th: Tennessee Williams born (1911)

March 28th: Three Mile Island nuclear accident (1979) 

March 29th: The House Select Committee on Assassinations released final report on the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King (1979)

March 30th: Vincent Van Gogh born (1853), Ronald Reagan and James Brady shot (1981)

March 31st: Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in the US (1918)

An Interview With Sharyn Rothstein, the Author of March

Over the summer one of our interns, Jeremy, had the chance to interview Sharyn Rothstein about her play March. Here's what Sharyn had to say about March, the internet, and more! 

Q. Where did you get the idea for the play?

A. I had been wanting to write a play about that time in life when you suddenly realize the world is bigger than your family, and I happened to read an article in the New York Times about role-playing games. In the article the writer cited some statistics that most people on these games choose to create avatars that are very similar to who they are in real life. I thought that was fascinating: that people would engage in an online world to alter their reality, and then makes choices that actually mimic their real lives. And I thought it was very fitting to the nature of adolescence, when we’re trying to be independent, but are still figuring out who that independent person really is. Suddenly, I knew that these two teenagers who form the heart of the play would meet in an online world.

Q. Did you play online role-playing games prior to writing March?

A. I dabbled in the Sims while growing up. When I started writing the play, I signed up for a couple of different games just to make sure that I understood the world and vocabulary. I was amazed by how complex these games have become, and how diverse.

Q. How do you think the Internet and online personas have changed people, families, and communities?

A. For this play, I was mostly interested in how the internet has changed what it means to be a teenager. It used to be that if you weren’t allowed to leave your house or your neighborhood, your frame of reference was severely limited. But now, any kid with a computer can log on and meet people all over the world. The way we make and keep friends has changed radically, and we now have the ability to share intimate details about our families and our lives with people we’ve never even met. For the characters in March, an online persona means escape and adventure are possible in a way that wasn’t imaginable for people who grew up before the internet.

Q. Have people reacted to the play in a way that surprised you?

A. One of the most consistent and consistently surprising reactions to the play is that audiences really embrace a show where the internet isn’t evil or dangerous, but actually a place where people can meet each other and share ideas and conversation. The internet has become such an integral part of our lives, but entertainment still seems to focus on its negatives, which I don’t think reflects reality. I’ve also been happily surprised by how easily audiences understand and enjoy seeing avatars on stage – for most people it’s a new theatrical experience, which is exciting, and they love that they can still connect emotionally with the characters.

Q. What are you currently working on? 

A. I have two new plays in development. Queen Bee, a dramedy about an upper-middle class American woman who gets kidnapped by Somali pirates, just had a reading at Ars Nova in New York. My newest play, All The Days, is just making its way out of my laptop and into the world… please wish it luck! 

Please join us for March, our LAST SHOW in Palo Alto, November 8th thru December 2nd. You can look up the cast, watch some videos, and more here! You can meet Sharyn after the show on Saturday, November 24th. Tickets are now available online or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

Back in the Saddle

Well 2012 is still all shiny and new, but for the cast of Marvin's Room, our first show of 2012, this week has been a chance to see how close we are to having a really fine show. The good news is that everyone came back energized, refreshed, solid on lines, and running a fabulously sharp, funny, poignant play that we're excited to show off on January 20th.

I snapped a quick (lousy) photo from last night's rehearsal.

One of my favorite lines from the show happens right here "My feelings for you, Hank, are like a big bowl of fish hooks. I can't just pick them up one at a time. I pick up one, they all come. So I tend to just leave them alone."

That's Ronald Feichtmeier as Hank, and Meredith Hagedorn as his mother Lee, by the way.

This cast is doing some incredible work. On Friday we do our first full run of the show in front of the design team so they can see the shape of the show and get some final ideas for the technical aspects of the show. I can't wait to see this come together as a whole!

Tickets for Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson are now on sale. You can buy them online or, better yet, get set up for a season's worth of shows - you save money and make sure you get seats at our tiny little house. We have three pack and full season (5 show) subscriptions available.

See you at the theatre!