Agnes of God

Two nuns walk into a psychiatrist's office... Sounds like the beginning to a great joke, doesn't it? This play's not a comedy, but I can't help snickering at the possibilities.

Changing the tone abruptly: The play's about a young nun who was discovered soaked in blood and passed out in her room after giving birth to a baby and strangling it to death with its umbilical cord. She's on trial for murder and must meet with a court appointed psychiatrist to determine her sanity. Her over-protective Mother Superior accompanies her to these meetings with the (of course) atheist* doctor and all three try to come to terms with the atrocity that has occured (while having more discussions about menstruation than an issue of YM). Heavy stuff (no pun intended), but not half as tedious as it may sound. Aside from a few cliched lines and one or two predictable moments, it's a really great play that's intensly engaging but not necessarily cerebral. (lol) It's a strange breed that, although dealing with the question of God, doesn't come off as pro-religion or anti-religion. It takes us somewhere into the gulf that exists between devout Christians and devout atheists. Call it reality with a little more thought put into it.

The lowdown on this particular production: Two of the actors give impeccable performances while the third leaves something to be desired (and that's being polite about it). I won't give names but the third that I'm referring to happens to be married to the director. (That explains a few things.) Anyone ever heard of a conflict of interest?

* "i" before "e" rule exception above. Notice the spelling of "atheist."

Slang Project - Entry No. 54

AC/DC, adj., bisexual (sometimes written as AC-DC)

Slang Project - Entry No. 53

hi-5, n., HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)

Take Me Out

I haven't been to a play in while so part of me was ready to like anything that would be thrown at me but I can honestly say that I really enjoyed Take Me Out. It's a Tony Award Winning play about a famous baseball player who, at the height* of his fame, reveals that he is gay. It's a strange mixture of comedy and melodrama that is awkward at times but works for the most part. It's also one of that rare breed of gay-themed plays that doesn't nosedive into an AIDS message. In fact, AIDS is not mentioned at all. But I'm not going to go through and give it a review because I've got a friend who's going to do that (and much better than I could do anyhow). However, I did want to point something out; the last time I went to the theatre was a few months ago and the similarites between tonight and that experience are a bit uncanny:

1. Both plays were at the Las Vegas Little Theatre.
2. Both plays revolved around gay themes.
3. At both plays, the audience was largely male.
4. I was invited by and accompanied by K---- to both plays.
5. Both plays had copious, and I mean copious, amounts of full frontal male nudity.

I'm not making any inferences by this; I'm just putting it out there. It seems that it must mean something though.


* Notice that "height" does not follow the "i" before "e" except after "c" rule.

Slang Project - Entry No. 52

yinz, pron., a plural form of you (Pittsburgh slang; from a combining of "you" and "ones")