March 2, 2021

ZOOM early this morning with four charming Australian kids, for whom it was full night. They had questions about “Alfie and Greta,” which they are already rehearsing. They wanted to know if I minded if they turned the American place names to Australian, and of course I did not. I did mind that they were going to switch cast in the middle of the show, and that one Alfie– who represents himself as filthily, brutally male– will be played by a girl. I detest gender blind casting. But I also realized it was one of those school enterprises where you have to get as many students onto the stage as you possibly can, and there are always more girls than boys. The kids were bunched together and unmasked. When I remarked on this they said there is not one case of Covid in Western Australia.