1. I had the day to myself today. Carol and Paul accepted my request to take in Charly. Originally, I thought I'd go to Spokane early in the day and eat a late breakfast or have lunch before going to Whitworth University's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Instead, I spent the morning at home. Charly was content. I enjoyed the quiet and solitude of the house. I took a long, hot luxury shower. I dropped of Charly at Carol and Paul's around 11:30. Carol and Paul were taking advantage of this golden October day by working in their yard. This was perfect for Charly who loves their yard and being outside with others.
2. I arrived at the theater early, purchased a glass of Bale Breaker's Topcutter IPA and, to my delight, Mary Chase (KHS, '71) also arrived early. Mary and I are friends from our high school days and from a year or two at the Univ. of Oregon and on Facebook. Last week she saw on Facebook that I'd been at the Rockwood Bakery near where she lives and asked me to let her know when I'd be back to Spokane. I told her I was going to this afternoon's play. She also bought a ticket and we planned to meet afterward for a drink. Well, we got some bonus time to get caught up with each other with an excellent conversation before the play began.
The Whitworth's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was energetic with a lot of physical action: crossed lovers wrestling and fairies and characters popping up in the balcony and among the audience at the orchestra level. The actors, however, were not yet at ease with the play's poetry and language and I'm not sure they always understood what their characters were saying. It's understandable. Articulating Shakespeare's poetry requires exercising the jaw and tongue in ways quite different from how we speak every day. I enjoyed the casts' enthusiasm, envied their physicality, and found the rude mechanicals' performance of Pyramus and Thisbe to be the clearest and most enjoyable part of the show.
I imagine the play was abridged the way it was out of acknowledgement of the casts' inexperience. That was a sound decision. The production ran under two hours and the cuts in the play made it easier for the cast to maintain an upbeat, sometimes frantic tempo. That said, I have to admit I missed some of the cut out parts: I missed Titania's "These are the forgeries of jealousy speech"; the changeling story was cut -- Mary called this to my attention after the play, and, once she did, in retrospect, I missed it; I missed the royals' smart aleck remarks during Pyramus and Thisbe. I can understand why the director cut these (and other) parts -- all the same, I missed these bits, so, in my head while I watched and as I thought back over the production, I filled them in.
I am very happy I made the trip to see this play. I enjoyed seeing this young cast take on the play, very much enjoyed their exuberance, and, after all those years of being involved with Shakespeare at LCC, found myself enjoying the flashbacks to the good old days in Eugene that the production inspired in me.
3. After the play, Mary and I walked across the street to the Peacock Room at the Davenport Hotel and had a drink together. I took a quick glance at the cocktail menu and decided to try something different and ordered a blackberry bourbon sidecar. I enjoyed it. Even more, I very much enjoyed conversation with Mary. We had a lot to talk about: family, mutual friends, our work over the years teaching writing to college students, our impressions of Spokane in 2019, and many other things. Mary and one or two of her KHS classmates, also longtime acquaintances of mine, enjoy going to trivia nights at a few places around Spokane. Mary reiterated her invitation to me to join them. I will sometime -- I hope to soon while the roads are still predictably safe.
On my way home, I stopped for a couple of spring rolls and a plate of chow mein noodles with beef, chicken, pork, and shrimp at Pho Thanh in CdA. As I dove deeper into the chow mein, I discovered the dish featured a perfect amount of chilis, just enough to give the food some heat, but not so much that it burned my mouth. I left Pho Thanh full and satisfied.
When I picked up Charly, she was content, having spent a lot of time outside and having spent time with Sadie, Carol and Paul's geriatric Pomeranian. I fed her a little bit of food when we got home as a reward for being such a good dog, and, before long, the two of us went to bed, both tired and relaxed after a most splendid day.
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