My Thelma & Louise

THELMA

 I've told this tale before, so if you've heard it--skip on by! 

The story begins around 1989.  I was living in Central Kentucky and teaching elementary school.  My closest friend had recently graduated and was also teaching music in the same county.  He was planning for his marriage and needed to shore up his finances, so he took on a evening job cleaning an office building.  The offices of an architectural drafting company to be specific.  Because I knew our time together would change once he was married, I would sometimes accompany him to this job and help him do it.  It shortened his evenings, and gave us time to talk and be together--mostly in the car on the way to and from the office building.

The last thing to do was take down all the garbage bags and toss them into dumpsters at the rear.  On one evening I espied the stalk of a plant.  Upon further investigation it was two little clusters of Snake Plant, Dracaena trifasciata--just stems and roots--cruelly tossed out by someone from one of the offices.  I rescued them then and there.  Re-potted them and have been their caretaker ever since, nigh on 38 years!

LOUISE

In 1994, they moved with me to Washington, D.C.  Winters they find a place inside.  Last frost to frost they live outside.  To my complete surprise and delight around 2018 they bloomed!  AND produced fruit!  I had no idea such a thing was even possible. 

As the years passed they added stalks and outgrew one planter after another.  When they hit their current homes, I realized that any larger and I would no longer be able to carry them.  So I stopped transplanting them.  Apparently the memo never got to them!  They just busted out!  Literally, they grew threw the upper trim of their fiberglass pots ripping the fiberglass apart.

Around this time, the only place they could over-winter was the window box in the dinning room where the two plants in the two windows left the dinning room nearly void of natural light and giving of a sort of Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock 1609 ambiance to the what otherwise was a cheerful place to eat a meal.

And so it was that in the autumn of 2022, I took Thelma and Louise to work and placed them in the foyer of my elementary school next to benches where people may wait for their appointments with staff.  They have lots of indirect light from enormous windows that rise to the second floor.  Lots a commotion and human intrigue to occupy their thoughts, and over the summer I placed them in the courtyard atrium in the middle of the school where they could be safely together outside.

But then things happened.  When I had surgery in June of 2024, they did not get placed outside.  This past summer, the same...  I noticed they were struggling back in the autumn of 2025, and by the winter, it was clear they needed a vacation from school.  So they're back home with me.  I've given them a serious culling, and their first feeding.  Last night the temps were in the mid-50's and a gentle rain helped cleanse them from the dust of two years spent inside.  I don't plan to return them to school before next autumn, if then.  

Dinner: Italian Goulash

 

Arena Stage: Inherit The Wind

 "Inherit The Wind" by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee is the brilliant "parable-ization" of the real life Scopes Trial that both captivated and changed our country.  At it's heart is the story of modernity and the enlightenment finally arriving on the doorstep of superstition and fundamentalist religious zealotry.  It's a little like the old time radio broadcast "Dragnet" with it's opening disclaimer: "The story you are about to hear is true.  Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."  So Scopes becomes Cates, William Jennings Bryan becomes Matthew Harrison Brady, Clarence Darrow is now Colonel Henry Drummond, and the Journalist from Baltimore who electrified the entire circus with his dispatches H. L. Mencken becomes E. L. Hornbeck.  With all the alliteration, the transformations are a thinly veiled disguise.  Even the outcome was the same.  Cates, the earnest high school science teacher was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine of $100.00.  

The writing is crisp and full of humor to guide us u
p to and through the serious issues being presented.  No character is left dangling in the purgatory of caricature.  The cast includes 22 members, but for this production, 15 have been squeezed down into the hands of 4 ensemble members.  Sifts come with swift costume changes and at times men play women and women play men.  The set is likewise as nimble with a set of four railings, a series of wooden palates and crates, and a handful of folding chairs easily transported by the cast from configuration to configuration as needed.  As the play is tight and efficient, so was the staging.

Alex de Bard

The cast is a lovely mix of outside talent and local A-listers.  The defender of religious dogma is played with tremendous charm and gravity by Dakin Matthews whose resume on stage and in film and TV is long and respectable.  He takes on the pivotal scene where in his pride he allows himself to be interrogated by his upstart opponent under oath and is utterly undone by the contradictions of his faith and the modern world.  Holding the torch of reason is another veteran actor of the Broadway stage, Billy Eugene Jones.  It was hard not to compare his performance to that of Denzel Washington in the movie "Philadelphia".  Like Matthews, he brought a gravitas to the role that was equal and thus plausible.  But more than that, he made it palpable.  Of the locals in the ensemble, Holly Twyford and Todd Scofield once again proved their A-List bona fide with exceptional performances that saw them flipping on a dime from one character to the next.  The great surprise of this performance was Alex de Bard who stepped in at the last moment to play Rachel, the daughter of the local Reverend leading the charge against Cates, and Cates secret love.  I don't know what the actress cast in the role was like, but Alex was seamlessly amazing!  The very perfection of an understudy.

I've spoken before about the depth and breadth of Theatre in the DMV.  Toss in Baltimore--just 30 minutes up the pike, and there are well into 40 professional and semi-professional theatre companies with active seasons.  This embarrassment of riches didn't just happen over night.  It is the result of multiple dreams by countless creatives who love live theatre.  Arena Stage was established in 1950.  It planted itself in a forgotten corner of DC where the rent was cheap.  From that moment on, nothing was easy, but the visionaries who founded it just wouldn't say "no".   In 1973, Arena Stage first mounted a full scale production of "Inherent The Wind."  After playing out their DC run, they were invited to take the show to Moscow!  It was the first American Theatre Company to perform in the Soviet Union.  68 Actors and technicians traveled to Russia and performed to standing ovations.  Among the actors was Dianne Weist (one of my personal favorites).  In reflecting on this, the company's founding director, Zelda Fichlander (for whom the theater space where today's performance was presented is named) explained that it was chosen as a way to showing the tension between America's aspirations and its reality.  That tensions like this create the catalyst for positive change, even as they exact a price on the status quo.

Don't we need to be reminded of this now, as much as ever before.

Billy Eugene Jones as "Colonel" Henry Drummond

Dakin Matthews as Matthew Harrison Brady

Noah Plomgren as the science teacher, Bertram Cates

At the moment of his downfall...

Brunch: Cottage Cheese/Egg muffin with Pear & Strawberry Salad

 

Folger Shakespeare Theatre: As You Like It

 The whole world has heard of Shakespeare if they have any knowledge of "western" history.  He's just probably the most famous real person after Adolf Hitler.  Hell, a movie written about the death of his son based on ZERO re-searchable information other than he had a son who died young, just one an Actress an academy award!  And if you asked anyone to name a play that Shakespeare had written, I would bet you dimes to donuts that they would name a Tragedy.  Probably "Romeo and Juliet," then I'd go with "Hamlet" or "Macbeth".   If you pressed them for a History, most people couldn't and those who could would probably say "Richard" or "King Richard" missing the actual title "Richard III".  Calling for a comedy would probably yield better results.  The likeliest answer would be some butchering of his most difficult play title to get right.  Of course, I'm speaking of "A Midsummer's Night Dream". 

In all of this "As You Like It" probably wouldn't come up at all.  Yet of all of his comedies, I think it is most accessible.  Especially, if you just do a quick pre-presentation tutorial on the roles and their relationships to one another.  It's a fun play, with lots of opportunities for slapstick, audience participation and song.

The story sets up around two brothers who have a falling out.  One is exiled to a distant woods with his faith companions.  The other schemes to increase his power over his little kingdom.  As the latter's reign grows increasingly untenable, more members of the elite head for the woods.  As they do royals (cousins--no Big Whoop back then) don disguises and fall in love--there's a lot of falling in love.  Ultimately it all works out in love's favor and our two lead lovers Orlando (you're welcome, Florida!) and Rosalind join a group in a joyous wedding in their Utopian paradise, the "Arden Woods."

Joy is the word.  No matter how the overall production goes at Folger Shakespeare Theatre, when it's a comedy, it's always full of joy.  Because I really like this play, I've seen it now 3 times.  Of those, this production was my least favorite, but I didn't not enjoy it.  It was just a little uneven.  The concept of setting it in Washington, DC was "meh".  I mean, we're in fucking Washington, DC already!  And aside from a scrim in the beginning with a projection of the capitol dome (which is also across the street from the theater!!) and the homage to the "columns" at the National Arboretum on the cover of the program, it was only a vehicle for the costume designer to play with.  Now, IF the Arden woods was dressed to look like the National Arboretum's "Columns" memorial?  That would have been great.

In spite of this, the actors brought the joy.  I commend especially, Tsilala Brock as Rosalinda who had her best moments in the guise of the boy, Ganymede, but nonetheless rose above those around her to establish a presence worth following.  Manu Kumasi was a delightful Orlando, engaging and empathetic in turns.  and Ahmad Kamal as Touchstone.  He seemed to take on responsibility for the success of the entire production engaging the audience  with a gusto that was leading.  He opened doors for others to walk through.

In the end, any Shakespeare to see at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre is an intimate experience as close to the real deal as you're likely to get short of the New Globe in London.  The house reeks with gravitas and easily transports you to a special place--one where anything is possible.  Seeing a show there is always worth the price of admission.  Which brings me to my next point.  There are four seats on either side of the entrance which are considered "obstructed view".  They only require one to lean forward to see anything that might be obstructed.  They cost $20.  I always purchase one of these.  The seat beside me costs $86.  The seat in front of me costs $108.  At $20, I can feel a little disappointed without feeling regret for coming!

Touchstone (Ahmad Kamal)

The Princely Brothers: Ollie (Terrence Fleming) and Orlando (Manu Kumasi)

The Cousins: Rosalind (Tsilala Brock) and Celia (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer)

Ensemble celebrating Love.  John Sygar on Guitar

Orlando asks Rosalind to marry him, her father, Duke Senior (Jefferson A. Russell), ready to give his blessing.

Zen Lego Moment...

 

1st Stage: Between Riverside and Crazy

 I loved this play!  Written in 2014 by Stephen Adly Guirgis, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Best New Play in 2015.  And deservedly so!  The dialogue was so fresh and spontaneously funny at times.  The plot is clear, but the turns and twists along the way were one delightful hard right followed by an even more brilliant hard left.  I recommend leaving your seat belts on throughout the duration of this flight.

The set, designed by Tony Cisek is the most elaborate I've ever seen at 1st Stage.  They truly pulled out all of the stops and in doing so added a layer of magic to the play that Broadway's production didn't even have.  It deserves a BRILLIANT all its own!

The show was rescheduled back after the sudden death of the actor who originally had the lead and naturally the production is dedicated to his life and legacy.  I'd seen him in other productions and knew him to be a solid actor--someone who can carry the arch of the character.  However, and I mean no disrespect, the actor who replaced him, another whose work I am familiar with here in the DMV, just took the lead character, Walter "Pops" Washington to a degree of intense presence that I could not imagine anyone else performing the role.  Nor could I imagine what it would be like to get the call to come and fill the shoes of colleague who has just passed into Ancestry.  Clearly, he was the perfect choice.

As to the other actors, again not a loose screw in the lot!  Two who I will highlight, one a longtime presence for me in the DMV.  An actor who will do anything to embody a role.  An actor who has often also appeared in programs as the understudy.  And while I have really enjoyed Dylan Arrendondo in other performances (most notably as Philinte in Constellation Theatre's production of "The School For Lies"), as Oswaldo, the ex-con with lingering Father issues, it was like I was watching a actor I'd never seen before blossom in a role that left me with a complex range of emotional connections to the character.  

The other was Fabiolla Da Silva as the Church Lady, a con artist intent on swindling Pops who ultimately received from him that greatest gift of grace.  It's a tour de force performance from start to redemptive finish.  I honestly can't remember the last time I watched a new play that had been on Broadway and enjoyed it so much.  "John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only" was a better play, but it has yet to be presented on the Great White Way.  

My local peeps have a week to see this one, and I promise you won't regret the effort.

Lulu (Hannah Taylor) and "Pops" Washington (Addison Switzer) after Lulu who is Pops' son, Junior's, live in girlfriend, has just revealed that she is pregnant.  One of many lies that fill his world.

L-R: Junior (Shawn Sebastian Naar), Lulu, Pops, Det. Audrey O'Connor (Ellis Greer) and Lt. Caro (Chris Genebach)

The Church Lady (Fabiolla Da Silva) brings her mix of Christianity and Santeria to "Pops" to heal him!  But in the end all he gets is Boner and a Heart Attack!  It's a highlight moment in the humor that is woven adeptly throughout the play.

The incredible, glorious, utterly inspired and perfect set!  Designed by Tony Cisek.  Bravo!