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Friday, February 18, 2005

 
9:16 AM: it's not a coincidence that g is for gorey AND gretchin! [#] [0]

last night sven took me to see gorey stories at reed! it was a packed house. i appreciated the set design, which included an unexpected upper level used to great effect in "the willowdale handcar." the costumes were excellent and the look of all the actors was spot-on (especially hamish!). one particular actress had an amazingly expressive body & face. and i was especially delighted by the portrayal of "the doubtful guest." the musicians (yes!) were quite good, too.

however, i was less enamoured of the couplets that were shouted at the audience en masse. and the original adaptation itself doesn't seem to have integrated the pieces very well: in the first half they are simply separate pieces that use the same actors in multiple roles, and in the last half they attempt to interweave several stories into the unstrung harp as if the author is writing them, which in my opinion only serves to muddy them. i understand the difficulty, and i don't know how i would have done it, but it's true just the same.

i'm really familiar with gorey, so none of the stories were new to me. but it appears the nephew's lament (a tragicomedy composed entirely of pronouns and a possesive) was developed specifically for the play. whee!

afterwards, we went to rimsky's and, unbeknownst to me, sat at a table which rose and sank imperceptibly throughout our dessert ("very vanilla torte," which is important to mention because they're covering the entire alphabet over the course of a year!). at some point i said something about how the table seemed to be particularly tall, because it had almost reached my shoulders, and sven couldn't help laughing. you've got to love a coffeehouse that has secret tables!

songs i've heard in my head today:
ani de franco: up up up up up up
that dog: retreat from the sun
tears for fears: elemental
tears for fears: cold
yo yo ma
mirah: earthquake
cat power: speak for me