My art is love!

So - theatre reviews forthcoming...I promise...but FIRST! You have to check out this website - kArtacrossamerica.com. It's amazing. New friend Jeremy is heading this project - he and a partner plan to golf cart across America (48 states!) talking to people about art - the trailer they've put together is really amazing, and I think this is a phenomenal project. Also, B. is in the trailer - actually, B. is all over the trailer - and he's really thoughtful and beautiful. He is art, and beauty... At any rate, go to the website - watch the trailer, a couple of times :), donate to the project, figure out how you can get them coming through YOUR town...for example - they HAVE to go to Vicksburg and the Attic Gallery and Highway 61. Folks there have some ART in their souls...but then, don't we all? What is YOUR art? I think my art is love. I think that's what I'm here for - to love well, to love thoroughly, to create through love, to speak through love - My art is love!

Alright - now down to some other people's art. First of all. The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Curious Theatre. TERRIFIC SHOW! Wildly and raucously funny - Martin McDonagh has really a comic brilliance, and I know it sounds a bit provinical and unworldly of me, but seriously, I think everything must just be funnier with an Irish accent :) The graphic violence and fight choreography/stunts are beautifully executed - and by the time things really start to get out of hand you've already signed on for the ride. You're in this world, and you find yourself laughing uproariously to excessive murder and mayhem. It's a little shocking...but then, that's the point. By the end of the show - having exhausted your belly muscles from laughing, you're left to ponder for a moment - why does it seem so much more heinous to kill the cat? And of course it does. Laura Jo Trexler as the tomboy love interest was my "person to watch" in this cast. A really lovely performance. Honest, simple, and at times both vulnerable and treacherous. Go see this show immediately.

The Gin Game. I'll be honest, I didn't want to go see this show. I was tired, I saw it years ago in Vicksburg - it just didn't get me excited on that particular evening - but man oh man, boy oh boy, was I glad I did. This show was what (almost...I'll get to that in a minute) perfect theatre is supposed to be. Both of the performances were beautiful. Simple, true, so deeply nuanced - and so moving. Jim Hunt is my new favorite artist. His direction of Contrived Ending (which we saw last week, see review below) was all of those things as well, and his performance of Weller was flawlessly blustery and heartbreaking while Patty Figel (?) was everything that Fonzia would be, is, should be... This was my first Paragon production to see and I plan to see everything that they do. Really lovely work. The only disappointment was in the lighting design - which was fine. It didn't compete with the story, it was fine. However, within this particular world, I think there were so many opportunities for time of day to really set the story for us, and that just wasn't taken advantage of. An incredibly minor complaint, only worth noting because everything else in the production was so full of artistry.

There is really good theatre in this town, and it's such a joy to get to take part in it. I can't wait to be making some of it too!

Have an EXTRAORDINARY St. Patrick's day weekend - and hey, take in a show, why don't 'cha!