Day 13

So I'm guessing from the lack of comments that you guys have gotten a little bored with this. Ah, well. Maybe I'll post a sexy picture or something to stir things up a bit. Then again, I'll be getting a temporary roomie soon, so maybe that will liven things up.

Yesterday was just right as far as this dare/goal goes. I managed to do some writing (only about 30 minutes or so), but I did sketch out a scene I've been toying with and write out some "action items" (as they say in consultant-speak) for some of my other work.

Speaking of the scene I'm working on, did any of you go to a Catholic High School, preferably all male? If so, can I pick your brain a little?

Other than the writing, I went to see Deviant by A. Rey Pamatmat at the Sanford Meisner Theater. Great, great, great, great, great! This was the kind of theater I moved to New York to see (and, of course, to write). Simple open set, a couple of multi-functional furniture pieces, not much in the way of costumes, props, etc. The director, Kara-Lynn Vaeni, placed all the focus on the actors. And they were fantastic.

This was a four person show. The story follows a couple, Sara (Jennifer Lim) and Valerie (Courtnie Sauls), who find out their new roommate, James (Daniel Zaitchik), supports his Ph.D. studies by hustling. The fourth character, Wayne (Jacob Blumer), is one of James' pick-ups who starts to turn into something more. It explores any number of things: language and communication, families, prejudice, love, hiding, fear, need, desire, art, academics. The play had lots of non-realistic touches: dream/fantasy sequences, monologues, a dream play, flash-backs. It worked to make this a beautiful, complex play. And if I were an actor, this is the sort of thing I'd want to do. And as a writer, the show really touched me. I loved the theatricality of it, the language, the textures.

Like I said, I was blown away by the acting, or rather, by the fact that the actors never seemed to be acting. They were so in the moment and so true to their characters, that there was nothing artificial about them. Even during the play's many dream/fantasy sequences, where the characters identities became fluid as the dream dictated, they were real to whatever character they were called upon to be and to the style of acting that the dream imposed on them.

Okay, rereading that, I realize it probably makes no sense. Sorry about that. But sometimes it's hard to put abstract feelings into words. Just take my word for it, the acting was great.

The sets, as I said, were simple, but they worked well. The costumes were just right and there was a terrific use of a mask during Sara's dream sequence. The lighting was well done, too (this was a pleasant change after having a wayward light shining in my face during the reading of Orestes on Monday), especially during the various non-realistic scenes.

All in all, as I said, this is exactly the kind of show I moved here to see. I think it only runs through next week, so you should go see it soon. It was well worth it, even having to schlepp over to 11th Avenue in the pouring rain.