|
paragon springs Yesterday truly was a zombie boy day for me complete with low level droning in my head. Everything in the world just shrunk down to a small radius around my head with very little activity happening inside of it. Any chance of introspection or clever observation was unthinkable. So to combat this truly wonderful feeling, I went to sleep this morning almost immediately after getting home from work. Then when I woke late in the afternoon it was to a transformed world where the sun could actually be seen shining in the sky. To celebrate this change in the weather I fired up the grill. It was probably the first time in weeks where I could stand outside on the porch and not be blown away. Wisps of smoke trailed off from the grill as I took in the blue sky that had been absent for the past three days or so. ... Driving to my final play of the season felt odd tonight with the sun still in the sky. When the season started last fall, it was dark hours before I left the house. Oh, I know that the days are getting longer instead of shorter at this time of year, but it does make a difference. It lets me know that spring really is here. The other odd part of the night was that this had to be only play of the season where the seats weren't completely filled. Usually they do a good job of selling close to every seat, but that wasn't true this time. Then again this was the first run of an unknown play so that probably had something to do with it as well. According to the playbill the play was loosely based on Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, but I'm not familiar with that play so that really didn't help me that much. From what I read one of the biggest changes to the play was the location itself. Instead of being set in a remote village in Norway, the play takes place in a small Wisconsin town where they make a living off of their natural springs. I guess at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century Wisconsin was well known for its natural springs and this is what started tourism in the state. What I found more interesting was some of the towns that used to bill themselves as sources of natural springs. One of them was the small town where I graduated from high school, which surprised me. Maybe eighty years ago it was known for that kind of thing, but now its nothing more than a town where farmers send their sons to play football. Of course that was what the town was like when I was there. Now the town makes the news for drug use in the schools and molestation in daycare centers. Things have certainly changed over the years. Despite the familiar setting of the play it really didn't do that much for me. I didn't identify with any of the characters and the moral preaching of the story annoyed me. The hero kept shouting that individualism is crushed by democracy, which was fine, but not overly entertaining. In fact I would have to say that it was my least favorite of the six plays that I saw this season. Twelfth Night would be my first choice with Of Mice and Men being a close second. I've renewed my tickets for the fall season, but until then I'll have to find something else to do on my Friday nights this summer. Of course I'll be in Europe for most of July, so I don't have to worry about that month, but that still leaves me with Friday nights in May, June and August.
|