theater(re?).

This evening I sat through a reading of a play. While I enjoy most things that take place on a stage, and understand that there needs to be readings in order to help the playwright with his or her "process", some do not understand the fine art of initial edits. 2.25 hours of a possibly amnesiac sailor and his exploits in an unknown city. Wow.

The setting might have been Europe (discotheques were mentioned), and it seemed timeless until blogs were mentioned. Each actor reading had a few parts to play, though they all blended into one as the soft bearded man had a penchant for "voices" and the less soft bearded fellow favored ironic tones.

There were, I must admit, some good lines in the show, none of which are in my mind at this moment.

It was raining as I left the theater and I was dismayed to find out that the milkshake machine at McDonalds (my focus during the entire piece) was broken. Slightly damp, with a runner-up McFlurry in hand, I went home now fantasizing about tea and a bath.

I haven't indulged in either the beverage or act of warmth because I am still stuck on the one thing I learned: having one character absorbing another is an unoriginal thought (something unknown to me when I used it in my own work).

(image courtesy of wikimedia.org)