A bit of hope.

Last night was a very moving experience for me. For the first time in a long time I have hope again.

I'm hopeful that art won't be cast aside as a luxury. I'm hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama (aka PEBO, thanks @scottpalmer) will see art as a necessity to society's well being. I'm hopeful that american Theater will survive.

What inspired this?

I had an amazing theater experience seeing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at Centerstage in Baltimore. I was leary to go when I heard that Centerstage was doing Virginia Woolf this year since it's one of my all time favorite plays. I love the banter and the play that Albee delivers all while saying something about the way that we treat each other. I know some of the play by heart and even used a George and Martha scene for my stage combat final in college. I've seen other productions that really didn't wow me, so I was anxious to be surprised.

Well it was fabulous. Incredibly so. It shook me to my core and even got me to cry a little. Martha has always been my dream part, I've always wanted to be her. I admire her vulnerability within the hard edge. She is a complete person. Sometimes in plays there are characters that only show you the one side of themselves, not Martha, you see her ugly, sweet, brash, rude, complementary, etc. You see the whole person.

I made me feel like the purpose of theatre wasn't just to make money to do more theatre, but that there was a level of art to it. That American Theatre is back on the road to art, instead of just entertainment. That the arts I love so much will actually have funding!

We'll see what happens...

It's over...

Anytime a director closes a show I think there is a bit of remorse. A mourning of sorts.

I'm the type to throw myself into another project and distance myself from what I was working on so it isn't as hard for me. I've been more distant from the show, saying "my job is done, the show isn't mine anymore", which is true. It's not mine anymore, the stage manager is in charge, they are supposed to run the show.

They still looked to me for guidance during the strike today, which made me a little sentimental. I really enjoyed working with all of them and appreciate the journey they went on to put this show on it's feet.

One world premiere done. Stage management up next. I've also been asked to direct a staged reading in the next two weeks, which I'm trying to make myself focus enough to sit down and read (it's not working very well at this moment). Then a nice long break before the next show. Now will I actually stick to my break schedule? Maybe, but we'll see...