Again, we are deviating from the deck of cards assignments but Cheryl and I are staying very busy. This week's "retirement adventure" involves reviewing three local community theater productions for the newspaper.
The woman who usually reviews local theater and music for the paper is out of town. Maybe she and her husband go south for the winter. I don't know. Anyhow, the Charleston Community Theater group asked me if I would review their recent show. The newspaper feature editor said OK so Cheryl and I saw the play, "Doubt," and I wrote the review. "Doubt" is about changes in the Catholic Church and society just after President Kennedy's assassination. It's a wonderfully written show and the local group did a great job, I wrote (among other things) in the review.
So, the Charleston Alley Theater asked the paper if I would review their show -- three one-act plays by a nutty playwright named Christopher Durang. We hated it!! The plays were vulgar, offensive, crude, etc., etc., etc. Cheryl wanted to walk out but I didn't think the reviewer should do that!
But these actors aren't professionals. They are unpaid people who like theater. And some people muct like this guy's plays because he has written dozens. These three have been performed for almost 40 years. But that performance put a bad taste in our mouths after enjoying "Doubt" so much. I wrote the plays were "outrageous black comedy" or something to that effect and swallowed hard.
Then, the musical theater in Sullivan, a little town near Charleston, asked the paper if I could review their winter show, "Chicago." I love musical theater and thought this would be a good way to rinse the alley theater taste from my mouth.
We both loved "Chicago." We had seen it 10 or 15 years ago in the Chicago area. I remember thinking it was OK but nothing jumped out about it. Well, the Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan put on a great show. They get professional actors there and the quality is really good.
So, I got to review three local shows in about a month's time. The newspaper's regular reviewer should be back this week so my new "part-time retired" gig is probably over. But I spoke with someone on the Little Theatre's board and they may want me to do publicity for their summer schedule. I may be out of the reviewing business but into "show business."
I think in these three shows, Cheryl and I got to see the variety that is local theater. "Doubt" was good but very simple. No frills. The Alley Theater one-acts were shocking, the kind of alternative drama that you might only find in a college town. And it doesn't even go over that well here. That show is for a certain kind of audience that does not include most 63-year-old WASP grandparents!! And the Little Theater continues to be a jewel for the people in this area. We are so lucky to have such a group in East-Central Illinois.
And I feel lucky for Cheryl and I to be able to go see a good show (two out of three ain't bad!) for free and then get paid to write about it! There aren't many retirement "adventures" that people pay you to do!!
But if you want my "professional" advice -- stay away from any Christopher Durang plays!!
From what you told me about the local show, I think I would have walked out, too. But if you have to report on it, then you are kind of obligated to stay.
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