365

Yesterday was a day of a lot of thought and discussion, with a lot of people I know and care about. There was anger and confusion and sorrow and frustration in the wake of the Walker's Open Letter about "Scaffold" (released, I'll note, at 4:30 on the Friday of a holiday weekend). It was a day of hard truths.

It was also opening night for 365 Days/265 Plays - a 2017 Remix at Full Circle Theater Company (I posted about the open rehearsal process for this show last week). I'm not directly involved with the production, but I have been working with the company, and I think very highly of them.

By the time 7:30 rolled around last night, once we picked up the babysitter and calmed the dog and had grabbed something to eat and gotten over to the theater, I was exhausted from the day, and honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was to see a show.

Which only proves to me how badly I needed it.

For the next two hours, I was surrounded by a lot of stories. Stories Suzan-Lori Parks wrote every day for a year, whether she wanted to or not (and it's clear that some days were better than others). Stories told by a fantastic, varied cast who all had their own stories to layer on top of her stories. It is a cast (and a group of directors) who are truly and authentically diverse, not because it's a buzzword, but because it really adds something to the theater process and the work they do.

It's also quirky, and fast-moving, and often very funny. And sometimes shocking.

Was the show the best show I've ever seen? No — it's not going to wrest Hamilton or Liviu Ciulei's Midsummer Night's Dream or a CTC workshop of Bent or any of my favorite Jeune Lune shows from their positions in my top list. But it's a damn good show. It's a show that — in a time where race and politics and our own feelings of helplessness are evermore dividing us — truly brings us together.

Trust me. If you're like me, you need this show right now. There are a plethora of discounts available — check out their ticketing site, or talk to me if you can't swing that, and I'll find a way to get you in. But go see it, you'll be glad you did and we can have a drink on Selby afterwards and talk about it. Because what I have REALLY learned in the last week is that I need to be talking about art with people (and I want to talk about it with you.)

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