On the Other Hand

I had to appear early this morning for a teleconference about some emergency preparation stuff and had a chance to visit with the local community college president while we waited for the conference to start. He was also in attendance at the play last night. Given my quasi-review of David Ives ' All in the Timing of yesterday, I thought some of you might be interested in his reaction to the production.


He was able to give a different prospective since he had his grade/middle school aged son and daughter with him last night. His first comment was that although he was sure a lot of the literary, scientific, and mathematical references went right by them, they still thought it was a funny. They just interpreted the humor on a different level. For example, they took the ice axe stuck in the head of Trotsky as sight gag - and thought it was funny. I suspect that may be the mark of a good playwright - he/she can entertain and get the message across to a wide range of audience backgrounds. It is a skill I have often admired but seldom evinced.


The president himself had a similar reaction to the play as I did. He *knew* there was something he should remember about Trotsky's death, but couldn't quite connect it in his mind. He was planning to look up the details this morning after our teleconference. I pointed him to the Time article and left it at that. We'll see what he has to say on Monday since I have another meeting he will be at then.


On the other hand, he was completely taken aback by one of the actors in the production. He has the actor in a philosophy class he is teaching this term. (He decided to teach a class this term just to be sure he had a handle on the issues his faculty face day-to-day.) He said "the young man has never said a word in class discussions and even one on one, getting him to talk is like pulling eye-teeth." Thus he was shocked to discover this young man starring as Trotsky in "Variations on the Death of Trotsky " and as Alan in "The Philadelphia ". Both very outgoing, voluble, and extroverted roles. It yielded a completely different view of the young man's personality and abilities.


Other than that the day was one of usual hassles. It was a good day to be inside since the NWS Wind Warning was in effect again. I'm convinced that there must have been a change in policy, they didn't use to issue warnings for 40-50 mph winds. The cold front dropping in from the north was evidently in a hurry. My own view is that it could have detoured to Nebraska and I would not have been disappointed. At least it is supposed to be back into the 50's by Sunday.