The Musical Theater Junkie Takes in a Straight Play - and Loves It!

          I have a confession to make: it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a straight play.  The last one I saw was Twelfth Night over a year ago!  The last non-Shakespeare play I saw was Shaw’s Major Barbara several years ago at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC.  I’m not sure why it’s been so long.  I mean, clearly my passion is in musicals, but I love theater in all its forms.  For crying out loud, my senior seminar as an English major in college was restoration and 18^th century British drama.  It had been far too long sing I partook of a straight play.

                Cut to yesterday, and me at the Sunday matinee of the Triad Stage’s production of Educating Rita.  There are three reasons why I decided to see this production:

1)      The Triad Stage was recently named by the American Theatre Wing as one of America’s top ten most promising regional theaters.  That’s no small feat!

2)      When I went to the Triad Stage website, there was a discount code on the front page for $10 of tickets to Educating Rita.  For someone in constant search of thrifty theater, that was the golden ticket.

3)      There was a talk-back after this performance with a professor from Wake Forest University, and I really miss the academic side of theater.

Not to mention, my best friend lives in Greensboro, so dinner with her would make the 90-minute drive each way all the more worthwhile.

                To quote Janice from Friends, “Oh. My. God.”  The play was brilliant!  I loved it!  Upon entering the theater, there’s a sign that warns patrons that this production contains adult language and many books.  I’ve found heaven.  At first, I was a little worried that the books they referenced would be books I hadn’t read and didn’t know anything about.  Luckily, it just so happens that all of the books they discussed at length were ones I had been assigned as an undergrad, even Rubyfruit Jungle, believe it or not!

                I don’t think I’ve ever before seen a play which only had two actors, and these two were phenomenal.  I was engaged for every single second they were onstage.  I cared so much about the characters, and even more, I was developing all kinds of ideas and theories about the characters and the story as the play went on.  I was in full-on “English major mode” and loving it!  I don’t want to ruin the plot for anyone, but I will say that I have some well-developed theories about the role of Rubyfruit Jungle in the play and why I think that literary allusion is, in fact, far more significant than any of the high-brow English literature which Rita studies.  Especially since Frank, her tutor, reads (and enjoys) the Rita Mae Brown novel.  I’d love to just sit down over a cup of tea and just talk about the play for hours.

                That’s why I’m so glad that I attended the talk-back afterward.  It was so wonderful to be around people who cared as much about the play as I did and had the chance to talk about it!  Needless to say, I’m buying a season pass for the rest of the season, and I’m getting all my tickets on the day of the talk-backs!  If you’ve never attended an event like that, do it now!  It was so rewarding.

                I’ve been rambling.  But amazing theater does that to me.  I think the American Theatre Wing was right on the money picking the Triad Stage as one of America’s most promising theaters!

 The Triad Stage Website