cup'a tea, raw fish, theatre. (2 things)

i knew i was going to love it. i knew it! Jeff Tweedy once spouted the importance of being a part of something,......(new sentence)While trying to calm down various (talkative) participants at a solo concert he expelled his frustrations, aiming them at a minority of chatty hipsters. It was the stuff dreams are made of. That said, I went to my first play/theatre performance as an adult this past weekend. We decided to check out the Actors Guild of Lexington's version of (Tom Stoppards') Arcadia. (thoughts on that in a second). But seriously, have you ever really been a part of something? Movies where people talk and cell phones chime in as much as the protagonist need not apply. Close your eyes and visualize a room the size of your favorite restaurant, but totally open. Insert seating for 100 people, maybe 150 (soaking wet) hovering over a small adorned stage. Whether or not the presentation was going to be good or not, I did not know. What I did soon realize was the fact that it was going to be a unique, amazing experience. 10 or so human beings putting every fiber of their schooling, training, practice, rehearsal, and emotion into enhancing some perfect strangers' quality of life for 3 hours was their mission. It was accomplished. The acting was brilliant, the crowd was attentive and involved, my bum hurt from sitting, I didn't care. I was a part of something. The experience shared in that room for that short time, will never again be replicated. Sure the play runs for a few more weeks, sure they'll probably sell it out again, but those exact participants won't be there, that guy who wanted to step out early who fell down the stairs won't be there.(I mean he ate it!) I like to think I added to the equation. I was a part of something bigger.


Arcadia is a play written by Tom Stoppard in 1993. The setting is Derbyshire, England in 1809, and present day. The play juxtaposes the activities of two modern scholars and the house's current residents with the lives of those who lived there 180 years earlier. Arcadia explores the nature of evidence and truth in the context of modern ideas about history, mathematics and physics. The acting was top notch and the production, art direction and direction were all brilliant, but also had a sort of grass-roots feel to it. No pretension was present.

listening to right now: Guns are Drawn by The Roots

jesse