Meet Matthew Cooke, a Stranger reader who has vowed to do everything The Stranger suggests for the entire month of February. Look for his reports daily on Slog and Line Out. —Eds.
Yesterday, as you well know, was Valentine’s Day. After all the smashing and catharsis at Dan’s V-Day Bash-a-Thon, there was high potential for boredom and depression. With Susan out of town, I was looking at a glum, lonely night of watching TV, probably the goddamn Olympics… Would the broom wizardry of Torger Nergaard guide the Norwegian curling team to golden glory??? Spellbinding stuff, I tell ya.
I kid; I actually love the Olympics, and if you’d asked me last week, sitting on the couch watching TV would have sounded like heaven. But now that I’m used to the pace of this “Yesterday” gig, the idea horrifies me a little.
Because it was Valentine’s Day, I had a hard time finding anyone to go with me. Everybody had (or at least claimed to have) plans. I considered inviting my Dad—he lives in Seattle—but a play about homo high schoolers just isn’t his cup of tea. Honestly, I didn’t think it would be mine either.
I’m not a huge fan of live theater. Generally, I prefer the distance of film; no matter how raw the subject matter, escape is possible. The intimacy of a play—the unvarnished reality of actual people doing actual things—creates a sense of obligation. You can’t just hit the pause button or walk out (not until intermission at least). I find myself feeling trapped when the drama gets heavy or the comedy gets unfunny.
Speech and Debate, however, turned out to be an entertaining diversion. The tone of the piece is generally light, which minimized my urge to flee. I knew it was set in a high school, a place I have no desire to revisit, from Kiley’s description. But I found myself enjoying the contemporary setting; this wasn’t MY high school. It’s the new version, where everyone has a cell phone, a blog, and is constantly Googling (we did have Googling at my school, but it meant something totally different).
So I laughed, nobody died, and although one of the characters did vomit, they didn’t make a big deal out of it. Well recommended!
Now, the work week. Say kind and nurturing things to me in comments… I need to stay positive.
Matthew, I’m really looking forward to your review of Wings of Desire. It’s amazing, and a much better way to confront the idea of loneliness than sitting at home watching TV. Plus, I guarantee you that Peter Falk, playing himself, will cheer you up. I wish I could go with you!
I’m rather curious as to what Googling meant back when you were in high school. I hope it meant what I think it did.
homo high schoolers not your style?
I hear you about about the intimacy of live performance. No one is offended when you walk out on a movie.
I saw the “Valentine Suites”‘ show at Rendezvous’ Jewel Box Theater, which was about the worst live theater I’ve ever seen. It was the kind of play where the actors not participating in the dialog writhe around in the background, and where there’s a 3-second gap between the characters’ lines as they talk at the audience instead of to each other.
But there I sat, trapped, because of the intimacy of the space. (It seats around 40.)
I finally bailed after two characters silently danced with each other, with no comprehensible purpose or apparent practice, for five minutes, with no sign of stopping. That was the last straw in a huge shit pile of hay. I hope I didn’t insult the actors as bad as I felt insulted.
It’s too bad, because the one of the actresses could really sing.