The Positive
I am so, so proud of my brilliant husband! His MFA playwriting thesis, Miranda Is Morning, had its five performances this weekend. They had great, enthusiastic crowds and garnered very positive feedback. I hadn’t read the latest drafts and was so impressed with how Miranda evolved over the last five weeks of rehearsal. This is perhaps his most imaginative play to date; it borrows from magical realism and offers up a drag cabaret show, a roadhouse dance number, and a seriously creeptastic circus of the dead. In addition to all that Spectacle, the troubled mother-daughter relationship at the heart of the show developed into a very moving arc. Here, let me give you a synopsis (in his words):
"Miranda just buried Helen, her mother. Helen has other ideas…To put to rest the less-than-peaceful spirit of her mother, Miranda agrees to undertake a road trip that will take her across the country and the all-too-thin line between the past and the present, the living and the dead. Her mother’s ghost is coming along for the ride — a last-breath chance for mother and daughter to discover each other before, one way or the other, they’re separated forever."
The play is funny and scary and sad. As someone who’s gone to a funeral all too recently, I had to fight back tears a couple times. (I would’ve downright sobbed if I hadn’t known the play’d be over in 2 minutes. I didn’t want to weep through the reception.) But it’s also deeply theatrical. He was lucky to work with great actors (mostly MFA acting candidates) and a great professional director, talented sound and lighting and costume and set designers, and a fabulous composer. I can’t wait to see what happens with this script next! We had a good talk on Thursday about what elements he’d like to keep working on.
It was also really wonderful to see how many of our friends turned out to support him. It meant a lot to both of us. We had a whirlwind weekend. Thursday we had dinner with some grad-school friends before the show, and after the show was the departmental reception. Friday our friend Meg came to visit from New York. We also decided rather last-minute to host a cast party, so I spent much of the day (when I wasn’t catching up with Meg) baking and cleaning. Saturday I saw a matinee of Twilight, had dinner with friends, saw the show, and then went to a local bar where we filled the back room with an assortment of 30-odd cast members, their parents, spouses, friends, crew members, our friends from undergrad, etc. Yesterday we met up with my dad, his wife, and my aunt and uncle for lunch before the show, and post-show I had coffee with some friends after while Steve was at strike.
Perhaps best of all, I have my husband back! Or at least I will as of tomorrow. (Tonight he has a talk-back and then his director is taking him out to dinner.) I missed him. The monkey-cat is great for cuddling, but he’s not such a good conversationalist. And he never wants to play Rummikub or make out with me.
