kitgordon

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/state-of-the-arts/archive/2012/04/a-beautiful-light-rembering-jen-degolier.shtml

Jen was one of the best theater people I've every worked with. She will be much missed.

Dorothy Dunnett’s first novel, The Game of Kings, was published on October 15, 1951. The 50th anniversary of that date occurs this October 15.

In commemoration of this event, the Dorothy Dunnett Society (http://dunnettcentral.org/) is encouraging the celebration of International Dorothy Dunnett Day. At 1 p.m. local time, Dunnett readers everywhere will toast Dorothy Dunnett and her remarkable books, her heroes, and her accomplishments.

In Minneapolis-St. Paul, we will gather at True Thai, 2727 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, at noon. All Dunnett fans or would-be fans are welcome to attend, have lunch, and drink a toast to the amazing imagination of Lady Dunnett at 1 pm.

If you plan to attend, please let me know by Wednesday, October 12, so that I can make a reservation for us.

A week after midsummer, when the festival fires were cold, and decent people were in bed an hour after sunset, not lying dry-mouthed in dark rooms at midday, a young man named Sobran Jodeau stole two of the freshly bottled wines to baptise the first real sorrow of his life.
--from The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox

My sister-in-law just sent me this link; check out these amazing photos.

http://triggerpit.com/2010/11/22/incredible-pics-nasa-astronaut-wheelock/

Today is J.R.R. Tolkien's eleventy-ninth birthday, and at 9 pm I'll join the rolling annual toast "to the Professor." We saw the extended versions of FOTR and TTT on Sunday, December 19 at the Riverview Theatre, and watched the extended version of ROTK on December 23rd with my sister at her home near Saukville, Wisconsin (the theatre was only showing the theatrical release of ROTK, so we bailed after TTT). I recently ordered the two volume J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide by Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond and it should be arriving soon (I was alerted to it by a friend, who lent me her copies to look at; I immediately had to have my own copies, even though I shouldn't be buying books!). I may have to re-read the books, including The Hobbit, though not right away, since we're about to begin rehearsals for Dido, Queen of Carthage, and I'm hoping to re-read King Hereafter with the on-line Dunnett group in the antipodes. Just finished Megan Whalen Turner's quartet last night (didn't quite make it through Conspiracy of Kings to include it in my 2010 reading list--I did manage to complete 89 books in the year, 90 if I count Dido, which I read as we prepared the text for the company). I enjoyed the Turner books very much. I'm looking forward to 2011, though I'm not sure why . . . well, there is Dido, then Street Scene in the summer, and all those other books on the TBR pile.

Since returning from our trip to France and England (where we saw only one play, Warhorse, in London--which was amazing), we've seen lots of local theatre. I just wanted to get a few thoughts down before they completely flee my brain cells.

Doubt/Workhouse Theatre. Good overall; I liked the script, which I hadn't read or seen before, and the production was solid. Amazing what can be done on that small stage.

Anon/20% Theatre Company. I like this company, and thought the production was good. I wasn't as thrilled with the script; listening to everyone in a group therapy session got very old, very quickly. As a long-time feminist, I really want to see more good plays by women, and what bothered me about this one was that all the men seemed to be sex addicts and all the women (even Allison, the central character) enablers. Maybe I live in a different world.

Life's a Dream/Ten Thousand Things. This company never disappoints me, probably because of both their mission and their style: text and actors are what you get, with minimal set, costumes, props. I'd never seen anything by Calderon either, so that was a treat. And the performances were excellent.

Unspeakable Things/Sandbox. Amazing set; amazing costumes; amazing performances. When I read about Donald Wandrei on Wikipedia the next day, I thought that the play probably captured something of his life. My problem--and this is my problem--is that I really go to theatre, and read novels, and see films because I'm totally hooked on narrative. This more surrealistic approach was interesting, but I didn't really feel involved. I would have enjoyed it more if there was a bit more of a narrative thread to hang the images on; that said, the images were pretty amazing.

The Crowd You're in With/Walking Shadow. Another decent production, but a disappointing script. I didn't see any reason why I should be interested in these people, and their issues/problems seemed very mundane. (This is why I don't read contemporary literary fiction--most people's problems today are pretty boring; give me a good fantasy any day). And Melinda was way too pregnant for six months, which was very distracting. No one moves around like that at six months (speaking from experience).

10 Virgins/Theatre Unbound. The idea of recreating/rewriting fairy tales is a good one and some have been very successful at this (Angela Carter, the anthologies by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, Patricia McKillip), but this one was pretty disappointing, and very bleak. Again, the production was fine, but the script less so: it just didn't feel very imaginative, and while I don't require happy endings in books or plays, the culmination of this story seemed very creepy--no way out for these women except death? Is this what feminist theatre has come to?

Fully Committed/Jungle Theatre. Wild, crazy, fun. And Nathan Keepers was terrific; I missed this the first time around so I'm glad I had the opportunity to see it this time. Set and sound design were also remarkable. And kudos to the stage manager, John Novak, who had to work just as hard as Nathan.

'Tis Pity She's a Whore/Classical Actors Ensemble. Good ensemble, open staging, insane script (well, I knew that). The company's decision to sing contemporary songs during the act breaks didn't work for me--it really interrupted the flow of the play. It may be authentic, but it takes you right out of the story. My other minor problem with the interpretation was that the actors seemed too contemporary for the script; doing a historical play in modern dress doesn't necessarily mean the characters behave as if it were 2010. I would have liked them to have more of a classical (hey, that's their name), formal approach to movement and interactions.

Whew! And for light relief, tonight it's Santaland Diaries and tomorrow The Harty Boys Save Christmas.

Just had a weird experience while eating dinner and reading today's NY Times: suddenly the text started swimming in a very odd way. I thought, "what's this?" and took off my glasses. Same thing without them, which means it was my eye (primarily the right, though the left may have been involved somewhat as well). It probably lasted for about ten minutes and I was a little freaked out, but now everything seems fine. I am clueless, but may have to go see if I can find anything on the web.

I woke up shortly before seven (well, the cat woke me at 5:30 for his breakfast, but I went back to sleep), and decided to take another walk around the lake. More wildlife activity this morning: a flock of some water bird (probably some variety of duck) near the south end (I couldn't tell because I could only see their silhouettes--the sun wasn't up get), a couple of mallards near shore; further on some geese and a rambunctious flock of seagulls. I heard crows and a flock of something (maybe swifts) flew over at one point. I'm not a fan of the color pink, but am always willing to appreciate the rosy fingers of dawn. The few clouds, including one long thin one that stretched across the lake) looked lovely, as did the mixed pink and blue of the water. A few runners and walkers were out, fewer bikers, one roller blader. The temperature was probably around freezing: there was a little haze on the water and frost on the grass. It's supposed to be sunny and around 50F today and about the same all week. Once the sun rose, it really made the trees that still had lovely yellow leaves in place sparkle.

Saw a good production of a very bleak play called Anon last night: about male sex addicts and the women who (maybe? sometimes?) enable them. It made me wonder about what sort of impact 40 years of feminism has really had.

After lots and lots of walking during our three week vacation in France and England, I really felt the need for a walk today (I have gotten back into the swim of things at the U). So I walked around Lake Calhoun, which is looking lovely with its fall foliage--though many of the trees lost their leaves in our big wind storms on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wildlife report: one lonely swan swimming at the lake's south end and that was it. The ducks and geese must all be gone; the change of weather this week probably convinced the stragglers that this was it. Earlier in the day, I had an eye pressure check (all is well), did my weekly volunteering at Washburn Library, and then stopped at "my" Dunn Brothers coffee shop in Uptown for my weekly treat of a large mocha. They had an armed robbery (and two staff members were assaulted) earlier this week, but both women are okay and the police caught the bad guys almost immediately. Sometimes law enforcement works.