Interlude - 1/8/06

Dunkirk NY - Vacation is a little more than halfway over, and so far it's been relaxing, pleasant and thoughtful. I spent the first three days sort of vegging out, through New Year's Day. I sort of watched the various college bowl games, but not with any real attention (except for the Rose Bowl, which was a great football game). Then over the course of last week I slowly got a few things accomplished that needed to get done. I also attended a few social affairs, both here and in Buffalo, as well as getting to the opening night performance of the Irish Classical Theatre's production of Good. And tonight - well, a small addition to the blog.

I find myself, however, in something of a quandary as to what to write. During the time we're on tour, there are so many things to write about because we go to a number of places and see a number of sites, That makes writing easy, because each day brings some new subject matter and experience to write about. But being home produces nothing but introspective ramblings, and I never really intended to have this blog become about that. But perhaps it's sort of proper to have some sort of mid-year assessment and reflection about this particular effort I have undertaken, and so I'll try to organize some thoughts in that direction. So, in no particular order, here are some personal mid-contract reflections:

• I love being on the road. Everyone has asked me that question since I've been home, and I've always responded that way. I do like traveling, and I do like facing the challenge each venue brings. I like seeing new places, and I really don't mind too much living in motel rooms. Motel rooms are, in fact, quite efficient and comfortable. With wireless access and a little TV, they turn out to be not so bad places to be in. About the only thing I dislike is not being able to travel independently when the opportunity arrives. And the food - I do get tired of mass prepared food.
• I like the people in the troupe. By now I know them pretty well, and for the life of me I can't really find anything to complain about. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, of course, and you learn to understand each person's particular quirks and eccentricities. But I have to honestly say that they're all pretty good people. That's made me feel somewhat better about the state of young actors in this country. There's a little hope there.
• I do wonder about the viability of touring, however. I've taken in each type of venue and each type of audience, and I begin to wonder at times what sort of lasting effect we have on the people for whom we perform. This is quite a complicated issue, and I don't really at the moment want to go much deeper into this, but suffice to say that our audiences are overwhelmingly white, middle- to upper-class, educated, or the children of the same. And in non-college venues (of which we had few), they are old; 50 or above. I see few people in the age range of my colleagues attending our performances. The issue goes beyond simply touring of course; it strikes at the very heart of theatre as a viable American art form. The reason I've been thinking about this question this week stirs partly from my attending the performance in Buffalo as well as going out to see the Capital Steps perform in Erie PA, and partly from some frustration in choosing a play to direct once I return to Fredonia. Of course, I've been thinking for a long time about the notion that Shakespeare festivals are really nothing but the Disneyworlds of rich educated white people, and being on tour is doing nothing but confirming that in many ways. To probe the matter even further, one can put forth the notion that in the seemingly endless bog of this nation's culture wars, all Euro-centric cultural values - and with them the truths they might hold - are becoming nothing more than another commodity for sale to a niche market. Shakespeare is merely a niche within a niche. But you'll have to wait for the book for any further explanation of this notion.
• It is easier to maintain freshness of performance when you have three shows in rep to perform than having to do one show over and over every day.
• Sooner or later, even the thing you adore doing more than anything else becomes reduced to a job. Anyone who says different is probably lying just a little. Now, I have one of the greatest jobs in this country - college teaching - and I have been most fortunate to be able to combine something I like very much doing with a job. But no matter what, you will have those days when going to work is no more than getting the job done. Obviously, the trick is to find a way to continually make the job seem new. That's challenging under any circumstances.
• The weather in the southern half of the nation is better than in the northern half. There is more sunlight. Western New York recently set a record of 13 consecutive days with 0% available sunlight. I have been here experiencing more than half of those days. It is noticeably more dreary up here.

Since I seem to be staring into space at more than regular intervals at this point, I will take that as a sign that I can't think of anything more to write. It's going to be a mess getting back to Staunton - my son Eric has an audition for the University of Cincinnati's Conservatory Training Program on January 14th at 5:30 PM, so I have to figure out this transportation thing so as to return to Staunton the next day by noon. Always complications. In the meantime, happy new year to one and all. Don't let the winter get you down. -TWL