Utah is a magnificent setting for this cultural event. I had to choose two plays from three offerings, they were Private Lives, The Secret Garden and Henry V...since it was a Shakespeare event I chose the latter two, and what good choices. The Secret Garden was presented as a musical, simply presented with minimal staging, nonetheless, very enjoyable. Watch for this on Broadway, some very touching music. I don't know, just a premonition. Henry V was presented in an outdoor theatre fashioned like the original stagings in England.
The audience is invited in advance for a preparatory explanation of the stories, which helped me a great deal in understanding what was happening (in both plays), followed by an open mike discussion about the plays. That was so wonderful. People brought up their interpretations of some of the most obscure details, while others merely described their interpretation of characters and events. There were some heavies in the audience in terms of their knowledge of history, music, theatre and then there were people like me who were soaking it up like a sponge. Of course I took the mike once myself.
The trip had it's usual events for me. To name a couple here, I was the last person on the bus, although about two minutes before departure time. Gosh, I started out so early, with plenty of time at home and by the time I got into the car I was praying to get their in time. I should have done a dry run because my judgement was erroneous when I went past the intersection just "knowing" there had to be an entrance to the college campus on the street that I was traveling. It was on the corner after all!! why not...NOT. I had to turn around and go in from the street that the address was on? Wouldn't you have done the same thing? Come on, turn right when you can go straight?
Event two happened after arriving at our motel, The Abbey. I got into the room just fine. The room was clean, tons of pillows on two double beds. I couldn't have been happier, so unpacked the few items I brought, turned on the TV to lie down to relax when I hear someone fiddling with the door knob. A much younger man was attemping to get in. Now, with all the folks on the bus??? why me??? We came to realize a mistake had been made, we were both assigned the same room and since I was already situated he left to find a new room. I just sat down when management arrives to ask to see my keys...I was abrupt in telling her I wasn't going to change rooms now, she made some lame excuse that she wasn't going to ask me to do that, so I put my head down and apologized, but truly, there was no reason for her to bother me since my keys worked. Blah, blah blah. Oh yes, I couldn't find the dining room for breakfast until I was re-directed to a little house off the property. The person who told me the direction of the place failed to say to cross the driveway. I walked fully around the motel twice before delivering myself to the dining room. I certainly could use the exercise even though there was plenty of walking. It was annoying though.
The bus ride was delightful. We had a box lunch served (that we ordered in advance) upon arrival to the grounds to see our first play before going to the motel. It was a good time to orient ourselves with the surroundings. There were tables set up on the campus with a tent covering, drinks (even wine in Utah) were served. On the bus I was sitting near Mille, who answered with few words to my comments so I read my magazines for a while. By the time we got to our destination however Millie and I had conversed and ate and sat together a few times. There were nice folks on the bus, a couple of whom I know I'll see again. My mind starts characterizing people when I see them in groups of 30 to 40. I wonder where I fit in???
The plays were engrossing, except for one small lull when my head fell but my throat would have none of that so I didn't miss much. I stayed awake for every second of the late evening show. The long ride tired me out and I found out it happened to a couple other oldsters. It makes the play sound boring, it wasn't, but you know how sometimes there's a part where there's just a little too much din and conversation???
All in all I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful weekend.
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