Ben and Angela

 

October 6, 2023

Opening night for Ben and Angela the best, the most elegant, the most nearly flawless opening night I’ve had outside New York. Everything the director and the actors did worked. Every choice was–even if other than what I would have done–right. Choreography, stagecraft, perfect. Even attendance lay within tolerable parameters. I usually think about 3/4 of the way through any play of mine “this is too long!” Did not think that last night. I’ve always prized clarity in writing (maybe above all else) and in acting, and I was proud of the clarity of both the script and the production. I wondered, is it too clear? Is it not thick enough? If so, can’t be helped. Probably nobody but me would worry about that. 

S and K were beyond perfection, in that they were at once cuter and subtler and more believable than I’d imagined them. 

Parked at some distance from the theater (beside First Baptist) to avoid the downtown mess and give myself some exercise. The stroll reaffirmed what a glad and bright little town this is, full of happy people enjoying their evening. Also, because I passed twenty restaurants, it assured that I would be starving through the whole show, which turns out to sharpen the senses. Makes me want to make excuses to get downtown more often, though you can eat and drink only so much and just wandering around looks peculiar. Took a gigantic piss on the oak across from the UC of C, downtown being too well lit for such a thing.