Walter Cronkite is Dead, and I’m an Old Matinee Lady at 24

                Where are all the young people?

                Let me back up a little bit.  Last weekend, I went to the Signature Theatre (winner of the 2009 regional theater Tony Award!!) in my hometown of Arlington, Virginia to see the world premiere production of Walter Cronkite is Dead, written and directed by Joe Calarco.  I went to a Saturday matinee with my parents.  I have a confession to make: I was the youngest person in the theater by about 30 years.  Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but there weren’t very many people there in the under-50 set, much less in their mid-twenties like me.

                Am I an anomaly that I like to go to matinees?  Are all the twenty-somethings going to the evening performances?  This isn’t the first time that I’ve noticed the age of those around me at a matinee.  I really hope that young adults aren’t avoiding the theater completely.  I’d love to hear input from frequent matinee-ers like myself and people who work in box offices around the country – is it just that young people aren’t going to matinees, or are they skipping the theater altogether?

                Yes, I realize that I haven’t actually talked about the play yet.  Thanks for your patience.  Well, the play was good.  There was a lady two rows behind me who, judging by the volume of her laughter, thought it was the best thing she’d ever seen.  While it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever seen, I really enjoyed it, and it was certainly a worthwhile theater experience. 

The basic premise is that two women are stuck in an airport.  It’s just a two-actor play, a concept with which I recently had a wonderful experience.  It’s hard to write, act, direct, etc. for just two actors, and my respect for those who tackle two-actor pieces is growing exponentially.  Despite understanding how difficult it is, I totally see why people do it – the potential for powerful theater is great. 

I thought the direction of the play was its best feature – the way the script was conveyed on stage was impeccable.  Could that be because the director was also the playwright?  Perhaps.  Who knows?  I was a little taken about by how realistic the portrayal of the southern woman tourist was.  Perhaps since I’ve lived in North Carolina for almost a year now, I’ve stopped noticing the eccentric quirks of that certain breed of Southern woman, opting to only see the delightful qualities – but I must say, it was dead-on.

So, all in all, it was a good experience.  But seriously, twenty-somethings: go to matinees every once in awhile!  You’ll like it, I promise.