June 11, 2023

Gentle rain. 

To the theater last night to see the play, SAE, that I’d vowed not to see. It was better than anticipated, if only just. Odd that one of the trailers should have been the worst (and first) moment in the piece, a reminiscence unsuccessfully ad-libed. Which is not to say I had a memorable night at the theater. The rest that I feared came true, it being a series of personal testimonials never achieving extended form, or plot, or engaging the curiosity. Two of the players sometimes read from the script disguised on clipboards or in notebooks. I believe transmutation of perceptions–not merely the presentation of perceptions– to be the crown of theater, and at no point did this happen. It was a conversation, one-way, and with clearly only one acceptable reaction from the exhausted auditor. This is not to say there wasn’t excitement. Ten or so African-American students came in, attended by two adult chaperones. It rejoiced my heart to see them in that space. They were surely the intended audience, and the only audience that could be expected to profit very much from it. They were invited by the actors to respond, and they did. It was lovely for a moment. Not far into the first act, the adult chaperones hustled them all out into the twilight, slamming the door behind. I asked Mandy at the interval what the problem had been, and she speculated it was the strong language. If I knew how to find those two incompetents I would do so and slap their ignorant faces for a deed so destructive on so many levels. Anyone pretending to be offended by “language” in the volcanic world needs to be slapped silly. 

Watched from the bathroom window a little rabbit zooming back and forth, then testing the tunnels of the cinder blocks for possible hiding places. 

Finished a new play: It Was a Beautiful Dress.