Monday, February 13, 2012

Day #489 Theater Week


What an amazing week this is turning out to be.

Yesterday I went with my dear friend Millie Woollen to the Aurora Theater in Lawrenceville to see Body of Water. I hadn’t known anything about the show ahead of time. We both have season tickets, so we just show up regardless of what’s playing.
Body of Water turned out to be a moving, disturbing, challenging, funny, sad, excruciating play about memory loss. I came out of it determined more than ever to appreciate each moment of my life.
Later on this week I’ll be going to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern to see Romeo and Juliet TWICE. The first time will be with my daughter and two of my grandchildren--the two pre-teens. I love watching their enthusiasm over the way the actors carry them along through the story.
And then, a couple of days after that, I’ll go back to the Tavern to see the show again with Millie. We both are Club Ticket Holders, which means we see every show there, too. And, because I like to take my grandkids, sometimes I see the shows twice.
There’s something about live theater -- good live theater -- that simply cannot be explained to someone who’s never seen it. I have on occasion seen the same Shakespeare play three or four times in the same month, and it has different nuances every single time. The Shakespeare Tavern is an “Original Practice Playhouse,” which means that they perform the plays as Shakespeare’s company did, with the actors acknowledging the presence of the audience. That means that the mood of the audience -- always a variable from night to night -- determines in part how the show “feels” that evening.
If you’re ever in the Atlanta area, do yourself a favor. Take in some live theater! I’ll vouch for these two outfits any day.
BEEattitude for Day #489:
       Blessed are those who work at what they love, for they shall spread joy in their wake.
_______________________________ 
The teeny details:
my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

4 comments:

Megan said...

Hi Fran,
I so agree with what you said about theatre.I was a rather late convert to it but now we go up to the Highlands of Scotland where they have the Theatre in the Hills in Pitlochry beside the river in a beautiful setting and thet do six different plays a week,they are a repertory theatre usually doing classic plays and comedy,but also I go to inner city Glasgow where they have a lunchtime one hour play written by younger people and different every week and occasionally I visit London and go to the reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe theatre which is fascinating. Sorry to have rambled on a bit,my point is that theatre comes in so many forms(like life!) but all of them have something to say to you if you listen.
Shame about your jokes coz a joke a day keeps the psychiatrist away.

Fran Stewart said...

Megan, thank you for taking the time to respond so delightfully. I've been in Pitlochry once -- a log time ago, and missed the theater there. Maybe some day I'll make it back that way. I did wander around the back streets checking out people's gardens and had a lovely time.

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company was the first American theater group invited to perform onstage at the newly reconstructed Globe Theatre. I regret not having gone in hock to pay for a ticket over there to see those performances. Ah well...some day.

And I have another story about the phone jokes. I'll tell you in a couple of days.

Megan said...

Hi Fran, great you visited Pitlochry but the theatre has only been there in present form for 15/20 years or so,now have built a wonderful Explorers Garden beside it where plants gathered by Scottish Victorian gardeners from all parts of the world are grown so a double-delight visit. However you should really save your pennies for the live theatre production of "War Horse" which I saw in London last year and the things those people did with those horses-sorry puppets- were truly amazing!I was in the second row and still thought they were real horses,another diverse form of theatre which was really spellbinding.Might have helped you with your fear of horses to be close but know they were not real.Good luck you are doing great with those horses and the horses seem to know it too- my fear is flying which I am not even attempting to tackle. Have flown only once,to Toronto to visit family then being a scaredy cat went by bus! to Perry,Ohio on Lake Erie where lovely friends lived. Thirteen years ago but too scared to repeat it.The motivatioin then was both friends,husband and wife,discovered the same week they had cancer so after ten cowardly years sincethey visited us made myself do it but won't get that motivation again I hope.Will watch your progress with pride though, you can be brave for me too,good luck.

Fran Stewart said...

Ah, Megan. Fears are funny, aren't they? I thoroughly understand your fear of airplanes. I ted to have horrible claustrophobia, which of course made flying sheer torture. But gradually, over the years, that fear has subsided. I'll wish the same for you.

As to seeing War Horse -- would love to, but an overseas trip isn't in the budget right at the moment. I'll just have to let you enjoy it twice -- once for you and once for me.