August 11, 2023

A and I were triumphant last night. Actors in the other shows tell me how wonderful I am on stage, and I wonder if I am, or it’s a pleasantry that is meant to go around and I have not been keeping up my end. Audience members, before I managed to launch out the door and into the night, stopped me to say how talented I was and how we were the best of the festival. One woman said she doesn’t like watching theater and has no attention span, but came back to see me twice. In any event, it was fun on stage last night, as much fun as anything but sex, though the preparation (for both) can be grueling. 

Review from Asheville Stages: Neighborly — John Connon’s offering is a deliciously slow burn of tension between adjoining homeowners, played by David Hopes and Aina Rapoza. Hopes gets the lion’s share of the dialogue and makes the most of it, peeling off layers of civility and grief at the death of his beloved dog to reveal something much, much darker. While Rapoza’s part is more limited, he does an excellent job filling his side of the stage with evolving body language through the play’s denouement.

Hours later: the decimation of COVID has caused the weekend of one-acts at the Magnetic to be cancelled. A and I had one more show– plus probably the “best of”– to go. I’m usually happy over a cancellation, but not this time. I was rolling sevens. Plus, my bucket and garden trowel–props-- are trapped in the building. 

My turkey flock rolled in while my feral brindle cat was chilling in the back yard. Cat didn’t run, but flattened herself on her stomach, which the turkeys read, I guess, as a gesture of inoffensiveness. The big tom gave her quite an inspection before moving on. I can’t imagine either inflicting much damage on the other. 

Preparing for the trip to Ohio, I thought “I can leave the return open-ended, because I don’t have to hurry back to see to a cat.” And then I overran with grief.