Limited Perspective

Everyone is guilty of something ...  You know those birthday cards you get from your office co-workers, the ones that have a picture on the front of a wacky collection of characters – there they all are, in all their weird uniqueness. The opening scene of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Renton Civic Theatre is like that. And it’s great. This murder mystery opens with a sort of butler and maid (already there are suspects!) preparing an island home for an important event. Then the guests begin to arrive in small groups. It’s a delicious kind of exposition. You get a little bit of time to take in the whole personality of each of them. After all eight arrive and, along with the butler and maid, stand there arrayed across the stage, you have your complete greeting card tableau. When one of their number drops dead, and they realize their lives are on the line, they go at each other. Perhaps more than the mystery itself, it’s this clash of personalities that makes this sho...

I don’t think I’ll experience the infinite in time. Seems unlikely anyway, So I’ll have to do it now.  Pascal says  The sure way to bet is that there is a god.  But I think I can hedge it  By seeing heaven that’s here.  Just in case. 

I’ve seen several plays in the past few weeks that integrate other art forms. Letters from Max at Seattle Public used poetry and letters. Max and his teacher, Sarah make sense of Max’s impending death from cancer by writing to each other. The original poetry, written by the playwright and attributed to the character Max, provides a perspective that neither conversation nor action could give. Audience and actors lose themselves in the rhythm and depth, together. Blue to Blue at Annex through April 12, incorporates the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Beryl is adrift in the wake of her mother’s death. Two characters are described in the program as a Greek chorus, but function more like a different Greek character, Charon, by ushering Beryl across the river of grief. They do this by producing snippets of Dickinson’s poetry. It’s essential to get Beryl to where she needs to be. The third show, Cornelia’s Visitors, by eSe Teatro is still playing. You have a chance to see it at West of Lenin tho...