So the run of the play came to an end this evening in an art gallery in Red Hook. The Red Hook show is a little out of keeping with the other three. Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Sunset Park (maybe) aren't areas that would normally get free public arts performances, whereas the Red Hook show is inside a gallery at the Brooklyn Working Artists' Coalition. It was just as far away from most of the subways, though.
It was only four public performances, and yesterday's was stopped halfway through as storm clouds gathered and thunder rolled out across Bed-Stuy. But I won't quickly forget Josh's vibrant and lively 'Seven Ages Of Man' monologue declared passionately against the creeping patter of the rain, the few rapt faces hunched under umbrellas, and the slowly growing gloss of water on the grey painted concrete stage.
The rehearsal schedule was pretty tight, but I loved it, and the show was so much fun. Intense experiences are strange things.
The experiences are intense because they are short, so the letdown reflex is inevitable, mirrors the enjoyment of the intensity but makes little sense. Making it last longer would have changed it into something else, something less frantic, less of a challenge, less of a victory over time and the task.
After the show was over I went downstairs to the toilets and while I was waiting a woman with a Dutch accent came up to me.
(Friday morning I switched a few spare office hours around and took part in a severely truncated version of the play with all of the actors who could make it, for a group of children on an arts-related summer program.)
"That was very good," she said. "Such energy."
"Oh, thank you," I said.
"My daughter saw your little show on Friday and she insisted we come today. She used to be scared of Shakespeare, and now she wants to read the plays and everything. It's wonderful."
"Oh, great! That's excellent."
"Yes, very lively, very...alive."
By this point I'm feeling a little awkward, even if she's being very nice. But still.
That's it, that was the point.
Well done mate, the photos are great and you certainly seem to have gotten a lot from the experience.
So, what next?
Don't know mate. Work just got manic, so I'll ride that out til it calms down a little in a month or so, then we'll see what's about. Might have to do a little more of this lark, seeing how I loved it so much, but all in good time.