Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Trading Shakespeare for Pie

Last Thursday my friend Jill called and asked what I was doing: watering the flowers. She said she had just won tickets to the Shakespeare Festival in town. She wanted to know if I wanted to go with her. Sure! The tickets are usually $40 a piece and I was just going to watch summer reruns.

They run three shows at a mansion in town. Each night is a different show. The night we went they were running Titus Andronicus. Neither of us knew a thing about it. We probably should have googled it. While I don't like horror films, I do enjoy some of the more intense shows like CSI or Criminal Minds. But neither of us were prepared for the intensity of this show. I just looked it up on Wikepidia. It said that it was, by far, Shakespeare's bloodiest work and probably lost favor in the Victorian era because of it's gore. If you haven't seen it, it is largely about revenge.

Intermission rolls around and we chatted about how "new" we think all the problems are but this is evidence that some of the same problems we face today were faced in the 1500's and probably before. I wasn't having trouble following it, but I was surprised by how much all the violence was impacting me. Sensing Jill was feeling a bit of the same, I said, "So do you want to leave?"

We abandoned $40 a piece free seats and went for pie instead. It was much less intense and we had a good time catching up.

It may be Shakespeare and the acting may be outstanding, but it doesn't mean it's all good. Even the classics may need to be screened!

The up part was that we got together. Normally, we both would have stayed home and tended to things around the house. The lure of those tickets got us together. Intermission gave us a way out. Pie gave us some fellowship.

Yes, William, you wrote some masterpieces. I'm not sure what it says about our level of culture, but I think I'll take pie with a friend any day.




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3 comments:

ThreeGirlyGirls said...

That is so funny! I would've taken the pie too!! =)

Unknown said...

I would have taken the pie, too! Had I witnessed what you did, Satan would have had a field day with my mind. So glad you left and opted for some fellowship and good eating with a great friend!

Prayers and blessings,
Rebecca

Joyful said...

Amy, you have reminded me of an evening I had several years ago now. A friend and I were planning on seeing a movie and I foolishly listened to other people's recommendations without researching this film myself. (I have since become a huge fan of "Plugged In On-Line" with Focus on the Family.) Any way, the movie had barely started, and I had my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears - I didn't want to see or hear what was happening on screen. Sadly I sat like this for over 2 hours! When my friend and I finally left the theatre, we both remarked how we should have got up and left as neither of us were enjoying the movie. So...why didn't we? Embarrassment? Fear of what others would think? You definitely made the best choice friend. It's an example to me if I ever have a 'next time'.

Have a great day!
Joy