It's actually really late in the evening - technically March 5th, but it feels like it's still the 4th... an amazing evening is winding down.
It started with an incredible matinee performance of Picasso this afternoon, after which, a number of us went out for some beer. Greg Wood, Ian Peakes, Youssef Kerkour, Kate Norris and I all stopped at Anthony's, a wonderful little bar on Market Street around the corner from the theater. Greg was wise - he dragged himself off to make dinner after a beer or two. The rest of us stayed at Anthony's past nine o'clock and then came back to Actor Housing Central for continued conversation and booze.
I got to sit and listen to the most extraordinary conversation as Ian, Youssef and Kate drank and talked all about their philosophies of acting, relating, and life. It was one of those amazing experiences that can often only happen under the influence of alcohol... and I mean that in a good way. People are often too inhibited in really talking about the forces that drive them - I've long believed that good conversation is a dying art. Often people don't really know how to wrap words around the things they feel, and so those things don't get talked about. What was wonderful about this evening was watching and listening as these incredibly smart people tried to do just that, and to word those thoughts in a way that was understandable to someone else.
The idea of people communicating is something that's always amazed me. I'm in the process of re-reading one of my favorite books, Gospel, by Wilton Barnhardt. I know it's not one of the greatest books ever written, but part of the reason I love it is that it so effortly mixes erudition and humor in an unstinting look at how ridiculous people of unquestioning faith can be. But there's a section of the book where a couple of the characters are talking about how Jewish kabbalists (I know I spelled that wrong. Wrongly?) believe that words have power. That words are magic. And that's exactly how I think of them. It's possible to argue that words have no power, since they're only symbols for the real things, and it's in the real things that the power lies... the word fish can't be cooked, eaten and digested, can it? But despite that argument, I can't help but believe that there's real power in words... they can move, they can enthrall, they can incense people... when used in the right way. Sitting around watching these incredibly smart people try to use those words to place an image of their own reasoning into the brain of another was, to me, endlessly fascinating. Bt then again, maybe it's because I was drinking.
Just kidding. I knew I was driving, so I really only had a couple of beers over the course of the evening. Oh, and before I forget, those pictures above are of (from the top) Kate, Ian, and Youssef. Each and every one of them are likely to kill me for posting those pictures. Don't tell 'em I did. ;o)
It started with an incredible matinee performance of Picasso this afternoon, after which, a number of us went out for some beer. Greg Wood, Ian Peakes, Youssef Kerkour, Kate Norris and I all stopped at Anthony's, a wonderful little bar on Market Street around the corner from the theater. Greg was wise - he dragged himself off to make dinner after a beer or two. The rest of us stayed at Anthony's past nine o'clock and then came back to Actor Housing Central for continued conversation and booze.
I got to sit and listen to the most extraordinary conversation as Ian, Youssef and Kate drank and talked all about their philosophies of acting, relating, and life. It was one of those amazing experiences that can often only happen under the influence of alcohol... and I mean that in a good way. People are often too inhibited in really talking about the forces that drive them - I've long believed that good conversation is a dying art. Often people don't really know how to wrap words around the things they feel, and so those things don't get talked about. What was wonderful about this evening was watching and listening as these incredibly smart people tried to do just that, and to word those thoughts in a way that was understandable to someone else.
The idea of people communicating is something that's always amazed me. I'm in the process of re-reading one of my favorite books, Gospel, by Wilton Barnhardt. I know it's not one of the greatest books ever written, but part of the reason I love it is that it so effortly mixes erudition and humor in an unstinting look at how ridiculous people of unquestioning faith can be. But there's a section of the book where a couple of the characters are talking about how Jewish kabbalists (I know I spelled that wrong. Wrongly?) believe that words have power. That words are magic. And that's exactly how I think of them. It's possible to argue that words have no power, since they're only symbols for the real things, and it's in the real things that the power lies... the word fish can't be cooked, eaten and digested, can it? But despite that argument, I can't help but believe that there's real power in words... they can move, they can enthrall, they can incense people... when used in the right way. Sitting around watching these incredibly smart people try to use those words to place an image of their own reasoning into the brain of another was, to me, endlessly fascinating. Bt then again, maybe it's because I was drinking.Just kidding. I knew I was driving, so I really only had a couple of beers over the course of the evening. Oh, and before I forget, those pictures above are of (from the top) Kate, Ian, and Youssef. Each and every one of them are likely to kill me for posting those pictures. Don't tell 'em I did. ;o)
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