Free Performance

Tonight was the staging of Ezra LeBank's play "Fresh Air" at Thorne's in Northampton. Since we had workshopped the script earlier this year in our Northampton Screenwriters Group, I was interested in seeing it performed. Both Ezra and Cat are very good actors, and lighting, music and props did make it all come together.

After the show, I went over to the Haymarket with friend M to discuss the perfomance. The Haymarket is the only place left in Northampton with the '70s-style ambiance i've always loved. The food's vegetarian; the chairs don't match and neither do the dishes; you bus your own table. Occasionally a street person will come in and drink the leftover coffee in the cups, and nobody cares.

I had forgotten to snap a picture of the stage earlier, so I pulled out my camera and took a shot of M. From out of nowhere came a rather flamboyantly dressed guy and put his arm around her, pantomiming for me to snap the both of them. So I did. He then came around the table and posed with me. M obligingly took our picture. The man introduced himself as Mario, wished us a good evening, and went back to his own table.

Watching Ezra's play was instructive, but M and I concluded that it wasn't really our style. In retrospect, we could have saved ourselves the price of two tickets. In Northampton, you don't have to go to a theater to see a performance.