New Centerstage Review Up

Posted on by
Reply

Red Tape Theatre’s motto is “Awake Now?” and the plays they put on are all about pushing us out of our comfort zone. I’ve seen two such shows now, and my main feeling on them is: I want to like them better. The acting, the sets, the sound design, the direction–it’s all there. But they are so self-serious! Again, I’ve only seen two shows, but just glancing at the rest of their season, it’s all doom and gloom. Nothing wrong with using theater to shake people up a bit; that’s an important use for it. But I have to be gripped by the story in order for that to work, and instead I’m sitting there wondering when I’m going to feel invested in what’s going on. Here’s an excerpt from my play review:

As usual at Red Tape, the costumes (Izumi Inaba) and set design (Emily Guthrie) were a marvel of detail and atmosphere. The themes of small-town dreams, collective guilt, and American pride are clearly spelled out in this funerary tale, but the play tackles them more from the head than from the heart, and that’s where it falters.

You can read the rest of the review here.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Posted on by
2

A cursory glance at a weather map of the lower 48 will reveal that it’s hot everywhere. Very hot. Coming up on this weekend, I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope with the heat. I have a couple A/C units, and last year they worked quite well. But last year, other people put the units in for me, and they’re nowhere to be found this year, and me with no upper body strength to lift things. What to do?

Well, necessity is the mother of invention, etc., because I managed it! I pulled a unit out on blankets and dragged it over to the window, lifted it onto the windowsill and shimmied it over the edge, then stuffed concrete blocks and books I no longer want underneath it on the outer sill. And repeat.

After duct taping up cardboard around the A/C units (I know it’s not sufficient, but I don’t have anything else that works), I turned them on and let them do their magic. I got some ice cream, opened up my computer to work on a freelance project, and sat down on the couch. I was so impressed with myself for doing something I’d thought I couldn’t do, that as I turned on the TV for some background movie watching, I actually said, “I am a hero to myself!”

And then the power went out.

Yep, this hero had blown a fuse with all that electricity. I had to throw on some shoes, grab my keys and a flashlight, and go down three flights of stairs to the basement to fix it. When I got back upstairs, I turned just one of the units on for safety’s sake. I guess this whole “being a grown-up” thing doesn’t work out 100% of the time.

At least the ice cream didn’t melt.

Image 1. Image 2.

Are You Flirting With Me Right Now?

Posted on by
14

Dearest fellow travelers, let’s talk bodies and how we talk about them. Just a bit! The subject of one’s weight and beauty is fraught with social pressures, personal histories, and private traumas. I’ve talked a little about how my own fatness affects my ability to travel, and I will probably post some more about that in the future. But for today, I wanted to share my new favorite way of stopping damaging body-shaming talk in its tracks. You can use this on yourself, your friends and lovers, even casual acquaintances. Ready for this amazing secret??

Mirror, Mirror, does this dress make my face look green?

Generally, we all feel some sort of weird in our own bodies. Maybe we think we’re too fat, too skinny, too dark, too light, too too too something–we’re always some measure off of an impossible beauty standard so deeply ingrained that we almost think it’s natural. I have a lot of thoughts about that, and a lot of websites to direct you to, but despite appearances to the contrary, I don’t like to spend all my time pontificating. I have a set amount of pontificable time. The rest is spent reading Kate Atkinson novels and imagining myself into Cary Grant movies.

But just because I’m not pontificating doesn’t mean I think it’s okay for us to go around hating on our own bodies (or those of others, but that’s a whole other conversation). How do I shut down body shaming without making the person feel yelled at, or shamed, or condescended to? How can we take a moment of body shaming and turn it into a gentle reminder to love your body, without preaching? The answer: humor! (AS ALWAYS.)

My friend told me about a roommate she had who turned her world around on this one. My friend is usually comfortable with herself, but she has her bad days, as we all do. Whenever she’d get down on herself about her thighs or her hair or her skin or whatever, her roommate would look at her lasciviously and say, “Are you flirting with me right now?” in a super exaggerated way. She’d even flutter her eyelashes a little and pucker up her lips. Every single time, my friend would laugh and carry on with her day.

It’s perfect! It’s absurd and non-confrontational, while also gently pointing up the absurdity of endlessly stressing over perceived body flaws. It doesn’t offer any of the usual reassurances — “no, that doesn’t make your butt look big,” “just eat yogurt for the next week and you’ll feel so much better,” “I have a new moisturizer you should try, it only cost $3,000” — but it is reassuring nonetheless. It reassures the stressed friend that what they see as a major flaw or even minor annoyance is actually nothing at all, a triviality, a reason to relax and have a laugh. It’s like saying, “I wasn’t focusing on your body but if we’re going to, let’s enjoy it!” It takes a moment of anguish and turns it into a moment of connection and fun.

So the next time you’re despairing your love handles, or your friend is bemoaning her chest size, make a funny face and a dramatic gesture and say, “Are you flirting with me right now?” I bet you laugh and move on with your life, in that beautiful body of yours.

I’m definitely flirting with you right now

Image 1.