I'm back from seeing Charlotte play Sian in a peculiar British black comedy that reminded me of Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf mixed with a lot of British black comedy and absurdist theatre, DINNER by Moira Buffini. When the play began, I thought of Joe Orton and his elevated comic dialogue combined with blood and violence, and when the uninvited guest Mike showed up, I thought, Hmmmmmm, Harold Pinterland. I'm not sure I liked the play much although I laughed at the outrageousness of it all, knowing that we were heading to something violent at the end. It reminded me a bit of Mark Ravenhill's play (I'm loathe to call it a comedy) Shopping and Fucking, which made me laugh but I felt was an unsatisfying piece of playwriting, but I spent a lot of time wondering why this play was the selection for the Horace Mann graduated students; perhaps because thet got to say a lot of profanities and be outrageous? Overall, the play required more mature actors and I think I'd still be apathetic after laughing at its deliberate attempts to shock.
The nice thing was that Charlotte's mother Dona flew back early from Portland, ME, where she directs the Potrtland Opera Company, and Charlotte's wonderful godmother Celia Weston came along as well. We were joined at the school by Chalotte's best gay friend Gregg, who's attending the Joffrey School of Ballet.
