I took no notes this weekend. I just had fun. Good for me, bad for you.

Okay, the players were Patrick, Melissa, Melissa's roommate, Steve, Kate, Elizabeth, Colleen, Amanda and Jeff, and Corina and her husband...whose name, I just realized, I never actually caught in the six or eight or twelve hours we were in the same room together.

Which brings the tally of Journallers Kymm Has Met to an almost unbeatable 37!

Melissa directed a production of Antigone starring Kate in Bumfuck, NJ, and the rest of us all flocked to see it (I'm expecting to see some flocking in my direction for my show next Wed-Thurs-Fri, people!). Patrick was flocking right by my house, so I leapt into the car and we rode together, me forcing him to listen to my entire show three times (once on the way over, twice going back the next day), as I wasn't as solid on my lines as I would have preferred to be.

When we hit the theatre, an hour early, we found a room full of frantic-y badness, as Melissa would say. Melissa's greeting to us was "Welcome to my nightmare."

There were giant windows all around the performance space, you see, and no blacks to hang over them, meaning lots of lovely, streaming sunlight for the matinee. They ended up cutting it with paper, and though a complete blackout wasn't possible, with willing suspension of disbelief, it was fine, not white trash theatre, as Melissa feared.

In waiting for the show, Patrick and I went to the graveyard up the street and I did a shoot. I love and adore graveyards, particularly old ones, and I'm pretty certain that I got some nice shots. I haven't done a graveyard since this shoot in 1996.

The show itself was quite good. No-one would ever say to Kate "You were really good for not having acted since high school!" because it wouldn't occur to anyone that that was the case. She was an effortless centre for the show, and if you don't have an Antigone who is clear and strong of purpose, you ain't got nothing. Having a powerful Creon won't make up for the loss at the heart of the show, but Kate was right there.

Melissa, though, was a revelation. She was half of the chorus, and she has a real professional presence and authority. That's something that you have or you don't have--it cannot be taught. So there she was with her beautiful voice, and her graceful stance, and you just couldn't take your eyes off her. It was like "What is this star doing in Nowhere, New Jersey?"

Both she and Kate should be very proud of themselves.

I did wonder about the blocking, because nobody ever stopped moving--they were wheeling about the stage like birds and the audience was only three quarters around the stage, and it's not necessary to block that way for 3/4. I decided that it was symbolic of the inevitability of tragedy, that it was patterned like a dance. Turns out it was originally blocked for the round. Melissa liked my explanation better.

Afterwards, I shot a couple of portraits of the girls, then Patrick and I and Colleen and Elizabeth went to the store for supplies.

If there is any way to get to know people quickly, it's going to the supermarket and being silly with them. We jeered at the carpet and were impressed at Colleen's laser-headed shopping techniques (how she can zero in on what she wants when she has never actually set foot in that particular store before, I don't know!) and I pointed out the elaborate display of Morton's salt (like people were going to say "Heavens! I never thought...I never dreamed...but that's it, that's exactly what I need to make my meals complete! SALT!!") and Patrick noticed the interesting juxtaposition of bacon laying right next to cans of whipped cream (Melissa called it a pregnancy kit).

After we got to the checkout, I realized that I needed a couple of things myself, so I ran back and went through the line separately from the rest, so they sat outside the glass doors, waiting. I felt like I was going through customs and they were waiting to welcome me to America, so as I came through the doors I cried "At last, at last, the Promised Land! Are the streets paved with gold? I hear the streets are paved with gold!"

Holy mother fucker, it's almost 10a and I'm not dressed. Poopy. Alright, I'll write more tomorrow.

In the meanwhile, how about the inevitable Christmas card offer? I haven't gotten them yet, should be this week, and yes I'm sending them out! If you were on last year's list, don't bother responding because you CAN'T get off my Xmas card list. Unless you moved since last year, then let me know.

Send your address here!

Today's horoscope:
Time for something new in your life. Seek out the original, creative or different. Look for laughs.

One year ago today:
I swear, those things are Satan's cinnamon rolls.

* Yesterday / Index / This Month / Tomorrow *

E-Mail

Christmas Cheer by:
Brittly!

This page was written by hand. My hand. Only pussies use HTML editors.
Last Updated Mon 6 December 10:04:09 1999