No, I’m not watching baseball. If I’m ever watching baseball, it’s fair to assume I’m a pod person and you should run. The invasion is afoot.
Eddie’s mom was kind enough to get us a season pass to the Merrimack Repertory Theatre as an early Christmas gift. We live walking distance to the theatre, so it’s a great night out on the town for us, and this was a gorgeous night for the walk to the show. The first show of the MRT season this year is the Reduced Shakespeare Company’sThe Complete World of Sports. (See how I did that? With the “play” theme? That’s why I get the big bucks. I’m going to make it through this month yet.)
RSC’s shows are always awesome (we’ve seen The History of the World (Abridged) in the past) and this was no exception. The guys covered everything from baseball and soccer, to cheese rolling, golf, and even some sports they made up just for the hell of it. The show was brilliant, enjoyable even for someone like me, who wouldn’t know it were football season if the guys in the IT department weren’t taking bets on it. The humor is intelligent and fast-paced, and per usual they got the crowd roaring even when they were riffing on local politics and sports. (They picked on the Spinners, and made it out alive. That alone tells you how good these guys are!)
And of course they had a heckler! She was dealt with masterfully. She wasn’t about to let the guys pick on Scott Brown (needless to say, she was the lone voice crying in the wilderness. Sorry lady). They let her have her fun, mostly so “Austin” (the intellectual whom, by their own admission, bears a more than passing resemblance to Al Franken) could call her a “Feisty yankee dame” and get a few more miles out of the joke. There was actually quite a few audience participation moments… mostly planned. It goes without saying, Ed and I were very happy to have balcony seats and leave the fifteen minutes to those who ordered their tickets earlier than yesterday at lunch! We’re fairly sure one of the guys was either a plant, or just a total ham, as he was almost a little too comfortable getting on stage and into the action. (There were big hand gestures involved.)
If you get a chance to see these guys before they head on to their next stop, I highly recommend it. Time is off the essence, however, as they’ve only got two shows left. The first show starts, well.. now. Sorry for the short notice. But you’ll have one more crack at it tomorrow. The Sunday matinee runs tomorrow, October 3rd, 2pm at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 E. Merrimack Street in Lowell.
The rest of the Rep’s season promises to be as wonderful as always. Tickets to the next offering, Four Places, are on sale now at the MRT website. Support local theatre and plan a great date night out!
I had the pleasure a few weekends ago of going to see the Ghostlight Theater Company production of SubUrbia at the Amato Theatre in Milford, NH.
SubUrbia is sort of an interesting commentary on how a lot of young people view the world in which we live. Set in front of a convenience store (the set for which is an actual quick-stop style corner store with stocked shelves and a cash register!) the story follows a few days in the life of a loose group of friends as they deal with their desires and the burdens of living in small-town America.
The struggling couple, the recovering under-aged drinker, the funny-guy jock, the young and disillusioned military man, the earnest immigrant family all smack of people we know, in some cases someone we know better than anyone else. About the only person hard to relate to is “Pony”, the now-rock star, the one who “made it.” A visit from Pony (rolling up in an overblown limo) stirs up emotions ranging from distaste to jealously to hero-worship, creating the undertone that carries the play through to an explosive finish. Pony represents everything that irks us about the new generation of fame-based affluence. His persona comes off as incredibly trite, playing the sentimental card since the cynical haze of the 90’s has worn so thin for us.
One would be hard-pressed to pick a “stand-out” member of the cast. Each player carried their own weight, and formed a true-to-life picture of friendship and suburban malaise in middle America. “Tim” (played by John Kneeland) is surly at best, and frightening at his worst. In the interest of full disclosure.. John is my co-worker’s son, but there is no favoritism when I say the delivery of his role was dynamic, and at times downright unnerving. Behind the scenes, John is the nicest kid you’d ever want to meet: gracious, easy-going and funny. Put a prop beer in his hand, and a script in his head, and you’d never recognize him. He makes Dr. House look just plain cuddly.
Where “Tim” scares the hell out of us, “Buff” (played by DJ Spinelli) is the court jester of the group. Caffeine-and-Oreo fueled, ripped to shreds in a wife-beater shirt and Timberland boots, Buff is the quintessential comic relief, constantly riffing on beer, grass, women, and laymen’s politics. Buff takes the edge off of the tension provided by Tim and the rest of the cast by engaging in “anything for a laugh” antics, up to and including dry-humping the ice-cooler in a drastic display of sexual tension and upper-body strength. He is the prankster, the kid we all adored in school, but now out of the small-pond limelight, he finds himself good for little else but amusement. Buff is the Fool of the tarot deck, eternally optimistic and wide-eyed, and that’s why we love him so much.
Some of “SubUrbia” can be hard to take. A performance art diatribe on the part of “Sooze” played by (Taryn Cagnina) was a bit discomforting, (if only because I had brought my mom to the play.) The piece however, illustrated how young artists and thinkers are pushing boundaries far beyond what would have happened even ten years ago, if only to be heard in a time that Warren Ellis describes as “The last days of the Roman Empire.” In a world where very little is taboo, one must step far outside of the social norm to register on the Richter scale. Sooze does this quite well, and it speaks to her utmost desire to break out of her suburban life entirely.
All of these cliches and trivialities, as entertaining as they are, are reduced to ashes in the final grim moments of the play. The ending renders all social roles and prejudices useless, and leaves the audience with the stark realization that the masks we wear are largely hollow monuments.
This effect could not have been carried so well without the support of an exemplary cast. Being a frequenter of the Merrimack Rep and other local playhouses, I could not have been more impressed by the show put on by the group. A great cast can make one feel as though they are not watching a play but living for a time in a world not their own, and this cast accomplished this feat with grace.
This fall, we will be treated once again to some fine performances by Ghostlight when “Three Wise Men” premiers at the Ghostlight, written by John Kneeland. If John’s writing skills are commensurate with his acting skills, we’re in for a real treat.
Welcome to the second installment of the “Kindle Unboxing Experience”. You’ll get to see the “tutorial” set-up on the Kindle, as well as a glance at the Kindle’s on-demand dictionary function.
Stay tuned next time for an introduction to Tom, Kindle’s onboard text-to-speech voice (you know, the one that’s causing all the hubbub in the audiobook community).
Now, I know I’m a geek. Everyone knows I’m a geek. But I’d actually never read the Hitchhiker’s Guide!
I know, it’s like saying you have the BA in Nerd Arts, but still having 3 gen-ed credits to fill. Anyway, I was the poorer for it. It was FUNNY! I actually listened to the Audio version narrated by Stephen Fry, who is fabulous. I recommend that version for anyone out there who likes audiobooks.
Hitchhiker’s Guide is laugh-out-loud funny, savvy, down to earth, and just a really fun take. You don’t even have to be a nerd like me to enjoy it, I promise. The story is fast-paced, with sense often having to run to keep up with plot (in an enjoyable way). Adams imagery is flawless, his characters lighthearted and human (well, in some cases). It’s an adventure story in the best ways, a social satire that we can all relate to, and just a really good time If the rest of the galaxy is as it’s told by Adams, sign me up.
The movie, not as impressive. Although it benefitted from a decent cast, and Douglas Adams’ input into the screen adapt, it just couldn’t capture the same free-wheeling joie-de-vie of the book. As is usually the case, the book was light-years (sorry, I had to) ahead of it’s film counterpart.
I signed up for a few Advanced Reader Copy contests on Twitter and GoodReads this week… never thinking that I would win quite a few. (I am of course, one of these people who says “I never win anything“)
Well.. as with most things, it’s feast or famine. I won - count them - FOUR giveaways this week. So, as a blogger of my word, I’m going to read them, in order of appearance in my mailbox, and review them.
I’ll post them as they come, and as always, drop a note on my Twitter feed to let you know!
Peace!
B
About the author
I’m a writer, artist and degenerate internet addict. I have a day job only to keep the lights on and the internet working. I’m not always PG, but I’m always A+ (not to mention humble.) Please do not try to make me think before coffee. It will only end in tears.
