Lynn Canal Community Players weekend drama, Dinner With Friends, was just great. I had dreaded it because of the publicity, which emphasized the serious tone of infidelity, divorce, and friends taking sides. It wasn’t suitable for anyone under 18 either. And there was an almost four minute nasty marital bedroom fight. I mean really, in April, when it’s still so cold, and just when you think it is spring it snows again? But the show was so well written (those Pulitzer Prize judges know their drama) and so well acted and directed that I was pulled in right from the start. There was even laughter, some nervous, as in, “Did he just say that? Out loud?”– but some because the moment was funny. My husband didn’t even fall asleep, and we had been on the longest bike ride of the season earlier on Saturday. We left the house later than usual, after ten, because I refused to cycle until it was 33 degrees. It was still pretty cold, what with the north gales. And dusty too. But we did see eight swans a swimming at – how perfect is this? — 8 mile. And several cows in the meadows. (Moose cows, that is.) Of course a play about divorce no doubt had every couple in town talking a bit more seriously about which characters he or she most identified with and why. (Or not?) I left the theater lighter than when I entered and more forgiving than I would have been if I’d only seen the first act. A play about a divorce is so much more educational than a lecture by a counselor on the same subject. This is why creative writing counts, and it is also why novelists are reminded again and again to “make the scene active.” Make us laugh and cry– don’t tell us that something made you laugh and cry.
Speaking of dramatic active scenes that will expand your horizons, the Arts Council presents Oscar nominated live-action short films tonight at 7 at the museum. (It’s snowing/raining now, so you won’t be missing a nice night for a beach walk anyway.)
