Keeping Things in Perspective

It's sometimes difficult to keep things in perspective when writing a review.

I see a lot of theater (at my last count I was at 77 plays this season and some of them I went to more than once)--which means that it can sometimes be difficult for me to be moved by an experience. As much as I go into the theater consciously choosing to stay open to the experience and to receive it with a fresh heart and a willing mind, it's still difficult to reach my "wow" factor.

Perhaps that is why I so rarely join in a standing ovation. I'm almost always happy to see a show get one, but I'm not going to stand unless the show is truly one of the top experiences I've had during a year. Granted, I'm always uncomfortable when everyone around me is standing, but I think it is important for those shows that do deserve it to be sparing in the standing ovation. I want it to still mean something.

But I'm rambling. It's not the standing ovation that I wanted to write about. It was how to stay fresh and to appreciate what I see even though I may have seen something of similiar quality or interest mulitple times over a very short period. I don't want good to feel blase. Nor do I want to be unfair when I write a review simply because the work failed to be in the top 10 of the shows I've seen.

On the schedule for this week:

Sweet Charity (which I actually went to last night--but I'll blog it tomorrow) at Wharton
Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Peppermint Creek
Picnic at Starlight Dinner Theater
If the Shoe Fits at BoarsHead
Music from a Sparkling Planet at Williamston Theater
Young King Arthur at Riverwalk