Time

So I just closed Indulgences. It was a lot of fun, mostly (see last post). And now. For the first time since, gosh, 2003? I have nothing to do until March 9th. I mean, not literally nothing. I'm trying to scare up a directing job, I'm working my new idea (stay tuned), I'm trying to figure out how I'll put food on the table next year. But suddenly, I have all kinds of time. It's very weird.

Yesterday, I got the kids to school, messed around on the computer, went to the store, went to another store, picked up the kids, hung out with the kids, made Jalapeno margaritas (I marinated the jalapenos a little too long and the tequila was very spicy), made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, watched Caprica with my wife, and went to bed.

Today, I puttered around, went to the gym, went to the store again, picked up the kids, took Spencer to ballet, took Dashiell to swimming, and then I'll pick him up, take him to a friends house, make dinner, put the kids to bed, muck about on the computer, and go to bed.

So, yeah, I'm basically a house husband. It's so weird. But kinda good. I'm surprised that I'm not glummer and more bitter, but I'm trying to go with the flow. We shall see.

But I've spent the last god knows how many years rushing about, way behind on everything. Only on vacation, out in Missouri, did I ever feel like I had time. Now I have time, in the middle of life. It's kinda good, notwithstanding the horrible years that brought me this. Funny.

Comedy is Hard

We really felt like we were getting somewhere. Indulgences is a tricky play - definitely funny, but its balance of nutty randomness, standard oneliners and philosophical invention is hard to manage. But the last 5 or so shows we really started to chug along. Audience response was starting to get a least relatively reliable, and we'd had 2 or 3 really solid houses - thank heavens one of these included Wednesday night when playwright Chris Craddock came to see the show. This was, in fact, one of our best houses, and we left that night feeling like we had found the rhythm of this show.

Then Thursday came along. One of our biggest houses. And they sat there like stones. Like stones. And it wasn't like we were pushing, or playing for laughs. We were just doing our thing. And nothing was coming back. Even the ending, which in the early shows was the one place we could rely on getting everybody involved and laughing, they was chuckling and some grinning, but it felt like a house half the size.

And then Friday came. A fairly small house, which was surprising for a Friday night at the end of a run, but you never can tell. And they sat there. Like dead stones. Not only did they laugh at nothing, except in embarrassed pairs here and there. But they gave nothing back. The old joke, "is this an audience or an oil painting" was never truer. And again. No rhyme or reason to it. We weren't pushing. We were moving it along because we were getting nothing, I say nothing, back, but it wasn't rushed. We were talking to each other, playing the story. It's a good show. So where were they?

It makes me wonder if people know how to be audiences anymore. I'm not sure they understand that they owe something more to the experience than the money they put into the ticket. They are there to share. The event only happens when we make it together. And, yes, it's the performers' job to make it easy for them to enter the story, but it takes an act of will to say, I get it, this is the story we are making, let me get in on this. Sitting there, admiring the skill of the actors, or mentally critiquing the play, or waiting to be entertained, just doesn't cut it. When you go see a play, you need to hold up your end of the bargain.

Pretty Cool

We've been waiting for something to really grab us since Battlestar finished. Dollhouse was disappointing. Castle was a dud. Flash Forward had possibilities but hasn't really lived up to the mind-bending coolness of BSG.

So Caprica came along. Looking questionable, to say the least. The Pilot ran like two weeks ago, but we haven't had time to watch it until this weekend.

Well, it is very promising. VERY. It's all origins-of-the-cylons, and virtual reality and bringing the dead back to life, and promises, like BSG, to get into the "nitty gritty", as my current character likes to say, about existence, God, and the meaning of it all. Performances are strong. Eric Stoltz has aged very well, still pretty sexy. Looking forward to the next installment.

Check it out:

Chip off the old block

We went to see Spencer in All My Sons on Tuesday. Talk about proud parents. He really did a great job. He has some of the only laughs in that very serious show, and his timing and delivery were spot on. Gosh I was proud!

The show was terrific. Very strong acting all around. It's an interesting part for Will Lyman, who has such an innate sophistication that at first he seems a funny choice for rough old Joe, but he is such a fine actor that it really didn't matter. I found him delightful and moving and utterly convincing.

And Karen MacDonald? Off the charts! She has this one moment, when she suddenly assails Joe saying something like "Don't you say a word" that is one of the most powerfully filled moments I've ever seen on stage. Her character's whole life is in the line, and I almost felt it physically knock me back in my seat. I was stunned. Such awful depth and power. It reminded me of her extraordinary Mother Courage, another landmark in her magnificent career. Yep, she good.

So, when it sweeps the Nortons, I will for once say "well deserved". It's really a special evening. I only wish it had been in a smaller space - I did sometimes feel the intimacy of the stage life, and the immediacy of what was happening, blunted by size and distance. I could see how good it was, but I couldn't feel it as powerfully as I knew I could if I were right in there with them. But there's nothing they can do about that. And the set was beautiful. I loved the huge cyc, and the use of film, and the presence of the indoor space that you couldn't see but could really feel.

All in all, very worthwhile. The whole show was almost as good as my son :)

War

So I've been trying for the last few months to understand why there is so much incivility and craziness in our civil discourse recently. Two people in the cast confirmed that Brown supporters had set fire to neighbor's Coakley signs and replaced them with Brown signs. I mean, what is that? Why so much hysteria, so much hate and fear mongering, so little actual conversation.

A day or so ago, somebody made reference to the familiar parallels between the U.S. and Rome in it's final days. It's an old song, but a very accurate one, and it suddenly occurred to me that this was what is was all about. Rome was a war state - perpetually at war for more than a two centuries. And now we are pure and simple a war state, too. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the so called war on terror. And this war-mentality has permeated every piece of civic life. Nothing can be a conversation, a dialogue, a process. Nope, everything is a war and the people on the other side are the enemy, even if they are fellow Americans. In fact, that's worse because they are traitors to whatever the true principles of America we decide are important.

I have to say that I think part of the problem with what the Democrats have been doing is that they are not good at war. The left-centrists have been trying to work with the right in the old-fashioned art of compromise, and the right is not interested. Nor is the left who want Obama to be a warrior for liberal policies. Now maybe that is what he should have done - said "Mandate! full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!" The whole compromise thing is certainly not working because nobody wants to compromise - they want to destroy the enemy.

But do we really have to be at war with everything? Is that really the American way?

People Suck

If I have learned one thing over the last two years, it is that people suck. I spent my whole life believing that they are essentially good, and bigger than their tiny lives, but the fact of the matter is that people are small, petty, fearful, easily swayed, impatient, intolerant, unimaginative and generally undeserving of this beautiful planet.

Sigh...

Another Opening another show

Tonight's opening night of Indulgences at New Rep. It's been a good process - great cast, great people over at New Rep - such a different vibe over there from what I've been used to.

I was pretty nervous about how people would take the play - especially the New Rep audiences. It's a strange play, no doubt about it, and I wasn't sure at all if people would go on the ride. It's got some really great stuff in it, though. I particularly love the character Joel Colodner plays (brilliantly) - he has these really fascinating ruminations on identity that are magical, funny and really thought provoking.

So far, people seem to be going along for the ride. The old ladies at the Sunday show were surprisingly into it, and if they like it, things look good.

Tonight should be fun - and then we're off.