It's always kind of strange when my classes intersect. It makes me feel like I'm actually learning something vaguely useful...

The latest intersection was just now, between playwriting and dramaturgy. Okay, so not a huge leap from one to another, I know. But still. I'm writing a play, and the somewhat immortal character has just died - for real this time, not like at the beginning, when she was burned for witchcraft. Anyway. I want the ending to mirror the beginning, so fire is again needed... Cremation this time. But somewhere in the back of my brain, a voice said "But do they cremate unclaimed bodies? Is what I'm writing accurate?" For a second, I tried to ignore it. After all, what does accuracy count for when it comes to artist expression? But I'm the one who got grumpy over the syphilis in Ghosts (The son has it, but not the mother? Is that possible? And what about the half-sister?), so... Granted, my play isn't exactly firmly grounded in reality, but still. Luckily for me, they do cremate unclaimed bodies, at least in some places. So all is well in my little play's sphere of existence, whee.

Edit: Damnation! Further research into the process of cremation has taught me that the sort of conveyer belt going into the fire thing (which I'm sure I've seen on TV or something...) is not actually what happens. The coffin (cardboard or particle board, often) is slid in, the door is closed, a button is pushed. No fire actually gets seen, it seems. This will just not do. The flames must be there. I guess the cremation chamber's door will just have to be broken so the audience can see the fire... Or I can have a cutaway sort of thing, looking at it from the side... So the door is closed but the fire is still seen.

*ponder*