Washed Out Day

This was going to be titled Washed Out Wednesday, but actually the rain let up last Wed. (Halloween) and it rained pretty much all day Thurs.  Typically on days where it rains all day, it does tend to lighten up in the evening, but this wasn't the case at all on Thurs.  If anything the rain got heavier in the evening.  While it definitely wasn't nice (and I got quite soaked on my way to Alumnae Theatre), I'd still rather I got soaked on Thurs. and had the nice(r) weather on Halloween itself.

Anyway, I was off to Alumnae to see the Toronto Irish Players doing Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa.  I thought they did a nice job, basically at the same level as this Chicago company (possibly Remy Bumppo, though I can't find the program).  I would say that possibly this time through Rose didn't seem as "slow" as she did before, which then slightly undercuts the way the other sisters worry so about her.  To discuss the play a bit more, I will have to delve into SPOILERS.

SPOILERS

One of the things I don't like about this play is the way that Friel tips his hand right before the intermission, saying that two of the sisters would disappear, never to be seen again.  Then relatively early in the 2nd act, he goes into more detail of what happened, but honestly it never feels like an organic part of the play.  There is nothing that connects their fate (and it is a grim one) to anything that we see discussed around the table.  I guess that isn't entirely true.  Because Michael, the narrator, has said that the arrival of the glove and mitten factory drives them to the poorhouse, we have this sense of (quite unearned) foreboding when Christina says that the woman who buys the gloves, which they knit, wants to come round and have a chat.  I guess I am not quite as fussed when Uncle Jack is introduced at the very start of the play with the notice that this is his last summer (and a bit later it is revealed he will die of a heart attack), but it is basically the same thing.  I guess Friel is just super heavy on the foreshadowing, but I think he takes it too far and introduces it too early throughout the play.  I mean this isn't really a play about anything, other than him thinking back to the last summer when the family was all together and reasonably happy, and how it all went to pot so soon afterwards.  But again, the women are basically just impacted by the outside world and nothing that they do (and particularly their interpersonal interactions) amount to a hill of beans.  So in that sense, this is kind of a limited and often frustrating play.  In some ways, the closest analogue I can think of is Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, which is also a bit of a memory play.  In any case, the one thing that grates at me is why Agnes decides that she should take Rose with her when they disappear (after losing their means of income).  Does she truly not think that the others would have somehow looked after her, even if Agnes is too proud to take "charity" from them for herself?  It just seems like a selfish and nonsensical decision, which again we are only told about and don't actually see unfold in front of us.  For these reasons, I'll never think Dancing at Lughnasa is a particularly good play, but I did think the production was fine, and I do love the Uncle Jack character, who does kind of salvage my interest as the play ticks on.  But I don't think I'll go see it a third time.

SPOILERS OFF

After reading up on it, it's possible that I would find Friel's Translations even more frustrating, particularly if performed with both intermissions (though most theatres seem to do in 2.5 hours, which isn't so bad).  Toronto Irish Players did it back in 2012, so it isn't like I missed my chance here.  I did miss a relatively recent performance, though I suppose it must have been in Chicago.  I might still try to make it once, but generally Friel doesn't do a lot for me.

Getting home was a huge drag with two streetcars short-turning and then one going to the Distillery district.  I was under an actual shelter, but I was still cold and very wet and couldn't believe how long it took for my streetcar to actually show up.  (And after I had been saying relatively nice things about the King streetcar...)  Well, if they keep up with this terrible service, it definitely won't be long before TTC chases even more riders away and is in yet another major fiscal crisis.