Winter of Discontent

Truthfully, it really hasn't been that bad this winter.  We had one cold spell so far.  Then some snow that stuck around for 4 days but it's starting to melt today.  We're not out of the woods yet of course.

In any case, I have a couple of photos of how austerely beautiful winter can be.  The first is looking out over our back porch.  The second is the small park next to Metro Hall.

I am certainly somewhat discontented over a variety of things.  I'm just a bit too hard on myself for not getting done with all the little tasks I want to accomplish.  I am running very far behind on the blog with at least 5 significant posts I want to write.  I need to finish this short story by the end of the month, and I also probably ought to submit something for Sing-for-your-Supper (it looks like I could still write that next weekend and get it in).  Maybe I am more anxious than discontent, but it is hard to tell the difference sometimes.

It might be that this general anxiety spilled over into my harsh take on The Suicide, but on the other hand, I enjoyed Dalton and Co. (perhaps I was even a bit more forgiving than the Now reviewer and in this particular case I think Slotkin's objections to the play are completely off base).  I could definitely remember myself in those various roles (brash newcomer, slightly besotted co-worker, brittle worker unfairly passed over, and even selfless assistant, though that role I never stayed in for very long -- I pretty much always got some recognition for my work).  I certainly would recommend this play, which runs for two more weeks at the Theatre Centre.

I am off to see the Two-Character Play by Tennessee Williams at Tarragon.  I'm expecting to enjoy it, though this is definitely not populist entertainment.  I'll report back later.*

Exciting news on the contemporary music front is that there are super cheap tickets to the TSO's New Creation Festival.  If you buy the pass, you can see all three concerts for $30!  I can't make the final show, but I can probably make the other two.  (And to think I came fairly close to paying $45 just for a single ticket...)

Another bit of breaking news is that Steven Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile is playing for one more week (tickets here).  I've seen this before in Chicago, and I think I'll go again, despite it being a poor man's version of Stoppard's Travesties.  The reviewer from Mooney's points out that there are a lot of laughs, but not a lot of plot (one could say the same thing about Travesties) but then also goes and spoils a reveal towards the end, so I don't want to link to that review.  While I generally think dramas are the more serious and important plays to try to see, I am a bit more apt to see comedies a second time around, perhaps not getting so caught up in the fact that I know the ending.

Finally, I'm pretty excited about Richard III by Wolf Manor also up at Tarragon the first two weeks of March.  (Thus, the title of today's post.)  I've only seen the play once before, so this will be a good chance to see a quite different take on this insidious king.

* It was good but not great.  It's pretty experimental (two actors who sort of go in and out of character -- it's supposed to be difficult to tell where the characters' neuroses and the actors' neuroses overlap).  It's certainly not my favorite Tennessee Williams play.  (That would probably be Night of the Iguana, followed by Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and then Glass Menagerie.  I don't actually like Streetcar all that much.)  Still it would be nice if there was a bit more support for companies taking a risk.  There were 6 paying customers and two ushers and then the two actors (and someone running the sound/light board).  I know it was such a nice day out but you aren't going to have too many opportunities to see this, so come on out next weekend...