Went to see The House of Blue Leaves at the Jungle on Saturday. It was good, reeeeeeeeally good, but I won’t spoil too much of that because, as noted on Friday, I was filling in for Mr. Dominic Papatola over at the Pioneer Press. That review should come out, oh, tomorrow.
The strangest thing happened, though. The gentleman sitting two seats to my right, and immediately next to my best friend Andrea, openly and very loudly hated the show! After the first act, he turned to Andrea and said: “Are you getting any of this?” And she was like, “Well, yes.” (She’s great that way! She had no bones about letting him know he was loutish and dumb. If that would’ve been me, on the other hand, I would’ve tried to engage the guy: “What don’t you understand? What can I clarify for you?” Then I would’ve given him an abridged production history, since the play hasn’t always been well received on account of it making light of seemingly lofty subjects, like terrorism, mental illness, and infidelity.)
After the second act, the guy hollered, “Is it over? I hope it’s over!” At this point, the whole bit ceased to be cute. I caught up with Andrea, and decided I hated him.
After the third, and final: “That has got to be the stupidest play I’ve ever seen!!”
Was he just trying to be contrarian? Because everyone in his vicinity was clearly enjoying themselves. In any case, don’t be discouraged by the fact that there are three acts and don’t be a dolt like this guy. It’s a great play! Go see it, tomorrow night maybe.
But since most theater houses are closed on Mondays, it’s a good opportunity to turn our attention, as we so often do, to movies–and good ones at that! The future of the Oak Street Cinema is still uncertain, and its board of directors is holding another meeting tonight. Having no other place to see the cinematic equivalent to great theater–flicks like The Leopard (which sooooo doesn’t work on home theater), In Praise of Love, or (wait for it…) Playtime–I, personally, will be shattered should the Oak Street close its doors. If you want to get caught up on the drama, pay a visit to savetheoakstreet.com. Otherwise, the open meeting’s at the Varsity Theater at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Leave a Reply