August 31, 2014

In the thunderstorm theater.

Untitled

There we were, Friday night, out under the open, darkening sky at 8 p.m. in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The play was "The Importance of Being Earnest," and the weather forecast was: thunderstorms. As the winds stirred up the surrounding foliage, we of Row O had to strain to catch the Wildean witticisms. Lightning flashed, seemingly synchronized with emotional outbursts on stage. A particularly striking strike perfectly accompanied one of Cecily's exclamations, perhaps "Horrid Political Economy! Horrid Geography! Horrid, horrid German!"

The play continued, the actors utterly ignoring the wind and the lightning and even the rain, until the lights came up and a voice over a loudspeaker announced that a rain break was needed, at which point the actors halted, the audience wildly cheered them, and we all filed out to our separate shelters. The actorly voice on the loudspeaker radiated assurance of knowledge of the weather patterns: The break would be short. And it was. The play resumed, overlapping with the last minute or 2 of what we'd just seen. Perhaps Lady Bracknell repeated the advice "Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon.  Only people who can’t get into it do that."

We didn't get very much further, only to Miss Prism's breakdown into tears. The loudspeaker voice knew that the lightning was about to get dangerous. I guess it wasn't before, when I'd taken comfort in the thought that the big lighting towers would take the hit and not some random audience member like me, not that I'd have enjoyed the play so much if someone else had taken the jolt, even that lady in the red shirt who got back from intermission late and walked across part of the downstage as Act II began. The happy ending for all was in sight, and it was after 11 p.m., but no one seemed willing to leave. Was it camaraderie with the actors or the fear that if we took the woodland walk from the theater down to the parking lot, we'd make good targets for that dangerous lightning?

We got back to our wet seats, and Miss Prism had to redo her waterworks. "In a moment of mental abstraction, for which I never can forgive myself...." And soon all the mysteries were solved, the 3 sets of lovers had embraced in true love —  "At last!" — and Jack (AKA Ernest) had realized for "the first time in [his] life the vital importance of being earnest." The audience was overjoyed, not just at the perfectly happy ending but at the heroic thunderstorm performance of the actors, and we gave a loud, elated — wild/Wilde — standing ovation for everyone, including ourselves. Did we not deserve it too, we who sat in the rain, strained to hear through the rustling of leaves, we who stood around for 2 intermissions and 2 storm breaks? We were kind of heroes too, heroes of a passive sort, and we were giddy by then, after midnight.

We tripped down the woodland path to the car and fiddled with the radio to get the baseball game  from the Pacific Time Zone to keep us going for the hour-long car ride home. It's the 6th inning. What's the score? The Giants already have 16 hits!

It was a good night to get out to the theater.

***

"What shall we do after dinner? Go to a theatre?"/"Oh no! I loathe listening."

20 comments:

sunsong said...

Wonderful writing. Great story, great play, and yes you are heroes too :-)

rcocean said...

"To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

FleetUSA said...

Yes, a wonderful review.

kjbe said...

Good story. We, once, sat through a similar scenario at ATP. Good memories we still share.

john said...

So the storm made you rise from your semi-recumbent postures?

Opon leaving, did you take your hand bag?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Great post- Bravo! Author! Author!

rhhardin said...

Theater of Clouds pic

Carol said...

Was there a theater bar? That always makes it more fun.

Ann Althouse said...

"Was there a theater bar?"

Yes, but neither of us indulged. Meade needed to drive and never takes even one drink before driving. I was concerned about feeling sleepy. Had to stay up until after 1.

rhhardin said...

stay up unitl after 1

The dog has been wanting to go out at around 1:30am for a few days.

She's willing to pee but doesn't have to, it turns out.

She's just bored and there's something out in the yard.

Waking up involves walking up and down the bed. If you weigh 80 pounds, a sleeper notices.

I'm surprised that alarm clocks don't use this principle unless it's for safety reasons.

Mark said...

I concur with sunsong. Beautifully done. I sincerely hope you have novels, memoirs, or some other trove awaiting the right time for release, a la Norman Maclean.

The Godfather said...

Was this a professional company? Having a performance interrupted like that can be really hard on the actors. As in so many aspects of life, experience helps.

Christy said...

Outdoor theatres make me happy. Some of my loveliest memories are of amphitheaters in the woods. A Midsummer's Night Dream is made for such a venue. Dark of the Moon, a mid-century play about a witch boy who falls in love with a hillbilly girl (from The Ballad of Barbara Allen) is particularly effective performed in the woods.

The Importance ... is always a happy play, don't you think?

PackerBronco said...

I love APT. Fond memories of Macbeth with the three witches in the moonlight, wind blowing, and bats flying overhead ...

gpm said...

Prism, WHERE is that BAY-bee?

Love the 50s movie version. Not so much the more recent remake, which suffered, first, because they mucked things up to let the plainly older Rupert Everett (whom I generally like) play the character that is supposed to be the younger brother and, second, BECAUSE THEY LEFT OUT MOST OF THE PUNCH LINES!!!!

Though I did like Rupert and Colin singing "Lady, Come Down."

--gpm

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Somehow the entertainment of cool summer evenings never seems to disappoint. Plays, music, howling with wolves at havens, fireworks, moon landings, flashlight tag, walks, BSing with friends on the deck in the dark, it's all good.

Jim in St Louis said...

"We were kind of heroes too, heroes of a passive sort, and we were giddy by then, after midnight."

Perhaps not truly passive. St Louis has the largest/oldest outdoor venue. The crowd is the show. Actors would not exist without someone watching them.

Glad you had fun, great descriptive writing. Was the Lady Bracknell actress pretty good? That is role that can steal the show.

chillblaine said...

Thank you for the review, it gave me great reverie.

Skipper said...

See http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/2014/08/pass-me-by.html

RonF said...

Yes, the towers would probably have taken the lightning hit. And the electrical strike may still very well have killed anyone sitting within 100 feet of them.