Regarding the play, which I did not see, I could point out the obvious, a one-actor show places a lot of pressure on the actor's performance to carry the intention of the script and the design of the production. Audiences change, the actor's ability varies from night to night, from place to place, no two audiences see the same show. As for the New York reviewer's published response indicating a provincialism in New York, there are so many New Yorks, one person's published review cannot speak for New York generally.
While stereo-types are unfair and harmful, there usually is some truth behind them. If I, for mean fun, applied the prevailing stereo-types to this case, I'd assume the New York reviewer was corrupt and the Washington reviewer envious. But, I should just stick with having no insights.
I quickly researched the geography of people involved with the play: the playwright, Will Eno, born in Jack Kerouac's home town of Lowell, Massachusetts, now living in Brooklyn, his plays were first produced in London;
director,Hal Brooks, a native of Philadelphia, who began his career as an actor and director in San Francisco; the actor, James Urbaniak, born in Bayonne, New Jersey; the NY Times reviewer who praised it, Charles Isherwood, was a West Coast critic, formally writing for Variety, recently moved to the New York Times.
Rather than proving this group had little to do with New York, it demonstrates what is typical of New York. The people who work here, particularly the movers and shakers in the Arts, Fashion, Publishing, Advertising and Finance moved here from somewhere else. Careerists, once in New York, seem to put on blinders, only noticing New York work. They think they don't don't need to learn from developments elsewhere, because it won't matter until it gets here, they think. So, yes, that's provincialism, in their career focus, but then since they all have family and childhood friends elsewhere, they do know something about other places. Often those places are on other continents. The native born and raised New Yorkers are generally as ignorant and intolerant as people everywhere, I guess, but, they travel, for vacations or business, the people I encounter move around the globe quite a bit. Add to that, the beloved internet and other media bringing information from all over, is it really possible for anyone to be provincial, truly unaware of happenings outside their town?
Speaking of Theater
I've been to only two Broadway shows, one where I saw the amazing Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, another where I saw a favorite movie actress, Jennifer Jason Leigh. Both events were during the post 9/11 period when Mayor Rudi recommended attending a show for the health of us all. The smoke and smell from the "pile" wafting into the mid-town theater weighted the theatrical experience with both poignancy and urgency. As a general rule, I'm not willing to give the hours necessary for attending theater. I wish that wasn't true, it's a symptom of being the artist with a day job. If I painted all day, I'd gladly go out at night.
Since You Didn't Ask
My personal, general opinion of New York is that it's a good place for those who don't know better, unfortunately, I do. For the delights of urban life, my experience of San Francisco was better. As for delightful living, any rural place would be better, I experienced rural living in Sonoma County. But, rather than go back to San Fran or to Sonoma, I'd go some place new. There are many areas of the globe I'd like to live, some for city, some for country living, some for excitement, some for tranquility. My ideal life schedule would be to shift with the seasons from city to country to sea side, to small town, to mountains, to cultural centers, to isolated plains, and on and on. A co-worker asked me recently if I had been to any area I didn't like. I couldn't think of a fast answer, although, after a while, I thought of Indianapolis, Houston and Southern California's Orange County. But, I believe I could enjoy any location, even those.
There is always deep history, natural landscape, cultural curiosities which would bring pleasure anywhere. In the way back era of our early adulthood, the Haight-Ashbury Oracle published "The Houseboat Summit", a long transcription of a conversation featuring Tim Leary, Alan Ginsberg and Gary Synder on Alan Watts' houseboat, (Oracle no. 7, Allen Cohen, ed. 1967) do you happen to remember reading it? I thought Gary Synder made the most sense, unlike Tim Leary, Alan Ginsberg who advocated those in out-lying areas make the Haight or East Village pilgrimage, Snyder encouraged young people stay where they are, investigate the historical and present-day life of their area's indigenous people, study their local landscape and meditate on the heavens. His quotes stuck with me through the decades:
"... I say, okay, get in touch with the Indian culture here. Find out what was here before. Find out what the mythologies were. Find out what the local deities were. You can get all of this out of books. Go and look at your local archaeological sites. Pay a reverent visit to the local American Indian tombs, and also the tombs of the early American settlers. Find out what your original ecology was. Is it short grass prairie, or long grass prairie here? Go out and live on the land for a while. Set up a tent and camp out and watch the land and get a sense of what the climate here is. Because, since you've been living in a house all your life, you probably don't know what the climate is ... Then decide how you want to make your living here. Do you want to be a farmer, or do you want to be a hunter and food gatherer? You know, start from the ground up, and you can do it in any part of this country today...cities and all...For this continent I took it back to the Indians. Find out what the Indians were up to in your own area. Whether it's Utah, or Kansas, or New Jersey..."
Excerpts from Articles about the Vallejo Ferryboat
Cell-Talkers, Keep It To Yourselves!
Somehow this all gets to proposals for definitions you wanted in On The Phone regarding the absence/presence issue involving the proper use of modern communication tools. The line of mine which you quoted made it seem that I was advocating someone enriching their present with cellphone calls, I was not. I meant being enriched by education, whether from research or correspondence. I hate cell phones, not much interested in telephones, either. Some people get a lot from the telephone, I do not. However, I do listen to others speak on radio and internet audio. I appreciate well edited reports or well written and delivered speeches. Without these remote inputs into my life, I wouldn't have half the knowledge I enjoy today. I also read -- sites, blogs, email and books. I was suggesting that education from these sources enrich our lives. That's my story, I'm sticking to it.
I seldom use phones, but if others like to, that's fine -- if they don't call me or conduct their calls within my hearing.
Overhearing any kind of conversation in public places is seldom fun, when I can't get away from them, I'm unhappy. Overhearing a cell-talker is the worst. If two people are present there is twice the chance for them to become aware that their voices are annoying others. One person straining to communicate through a constricted cellphone data stream has little chance of being aware of their voice's affect on others close by. The poor connections and the compressed audio forces the cell-talkers to project their voices unnaturally. Add to this, the cell phone technology causes interjections to wipe out both audio streams, neither party can hear either voice making for a lot of "What?".
People talking while walking on the street, I don't mind, I don't hear them over the street noise and I usually think they are either cleverly multi-tasking, perhaps arranging some family or social business while on a routine walk or they are having a carefree strolling conversation with someone who may be walking on another street. My Dad and I regularly talk by cell phone when I'm walking home, often he'll be walking in his park, it's a good thing. But, when in a crowd, in a building, in a bus or train, I expect all of us to hang up. These are the time for texting. Sadly, too often, they don't. My world-traveling son-in-law tells me Americans are the worst, the most rude, the most publically loud cell-talkers. This shame is another in a long list of embrassments for us.
My idea of the internet communications being a help is as education. Either receiving expert advise, quality journalism or commentary. Analogous to reading a book. One's physical body is comfortable in a safe situation, aware of the environment enough to remain safe from hazards and to enjoy the light, air, temperature. The mind is with the book, gaining it's insights, entertainments, broadening one's life experience.
Studying Western Hemisphere's indigenous people I take a lesson about the danger of trusting isolation. For a variety of reasons, the people here were unknowingly vulnerable to European, African and Asian invasion. Because the people of this hemisphere had no contact with the rest of the world's people, they had no immunity to the other people's diseases. At first contacts, the Chinese, the Scandinavians, then the Italians and Spanish, huge populations of indigeounous people died of the alien infections. By the time European settlement began, I understand, as much as 80% of the indigenous population had died. The remaining "Indians" were defensively weak, in small groups, warring with each other. The Europeans, whose pathological religion and advanced technology gave them delusions of superiority, ruthlessly corralled the Indians into starvation camps taking all the best land for themselves.
Lagnappe
I appreciated hearing a conversation with articulate New Orleaneans about the present state of their city on Harry Shearer - 'Le Show' last January 8th. Check it out, it's all still relevant: A conversation about New Orleans, with Ti Adleaide Martin, Clancy Dubos, and Chris Rose. I've been enjoying Harry Shearer's Le Show for 20 years now. Once in a while he does a "different" kind of show like this -- I count on him to give me unique insights, week after week, he hasn't let me down.
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