I was watching TV, ok?

Back from nearly a month-long hiatus, taken because I needed extra time for my top-secret non theatre-going pursuits.* My first night in the soup wasn't disappointing, exactly, because it was Lincoln Square Theatre, very charming, but definitely a community operation, and stuck in the obligatory church basement. Hence, not sky-high expectations. But, it could have been loads better than it was. Abelard and Heloise is some scorching subject material, you know. Remember the masturbating nun puppet from "Being John Malkovich?" Yeah, those are the famously celibate lovers. The show had good, solid production values, and managed to create some awfully pretty lighting moments without anything that could be called a rig. And the majority of the cast was solid. However, nothing really fantastic could have been made out of the melodramatic yet anachronistic script, and Abelard was the most irritating male lead I have ever seen. Quite affected, quite actory, and didn't ever seem to be listening or responding to the other people on stage with him. I don't get it. There were loads of good male actors in the cast- I can't believe they couldn't have found somebody better.

Yet, at the same time, I gotta give mad props to Lincoln Square theatre. I love that they're constantly putting on new scripts, which is not usual for a community theatre, and I always have a qualified good time at their shows. I wish they'd revive "Pirate Bones," a script I read for Victory Gardens which they'd premiered some years ago. I thought it was really lovely.


*out of town guests, Viola Project stuff, y'know, writing plays my own darn self