So, after I lost all the work I did Sunday (yesterday) morning, I decided to drive down to Terra Ceia (an hour plus south of Tampa where I’m flying out Monday) and spend the night with my cousin Bill (son of Bill, father of Will).

Since I’m not doing the interstates (or toll roads) it is a five hour drive from Tallahassee. A few hours later I stop to stretch my legs and look to see if there is a community theater nearby. Yes, there is one and they have a matinee at 2:00 for the play “Always a Bridesmaid” by the Wooten, Jones Hope. Playwrights who also wrote Mama Won’t Fly and The Dixie Swim Club. I look at my watch: 2:15. I rush over to the theater, get there at 2:20 to find out the show has already started and it is sold out. I told them I had driven all the way from Tallahassee (true) and I wanted to see the show (mostly true) and could I stand up in the back to watch it? They told me that since I had driven all the way from Tallahassee, they would get me in and not charge me for the ticket.

The theater was a 60 foot (long) by 35 feet (wide) by 16 feet (high) block of concrete. About 160 seats. The stage was about the same size as Orcas Center. Nice set, good costumes, mediocre play, poor acting. The acoustics were terrible. With all the concrete, the voices just kept bouncing off the walls. The actors stood or sat in a line facing the audience and shouted their lines with super heavy southern accents that would have been hard to understand in a place with good acoustics.

No character arcs. The character who was depressed at the start was depressed at the end. The character who screamed at everyone at the start was screaming at everyone at the end.

The play had six scenes spread over 20 something years. Each scene takes place just before a wedding of one of the four main characters. The scene changes were interminable because the four main characters had major costume changes. The Director tried to cover it by having the stage crew in costume and changing throw pillows, minor rearranging of the furniture and so on.

I would consider doing the play except for the costumes and scene change times – would need to find a solution for that first.

As soon as I post this, I’m heading to the airport to fly to Seattle. Home tomorrow (Tuesday).