this morning greg and i had our first coop shift since we rejoined. we worked stocking, which was fun (our first ever coop shift together! of course when the girls were young, we did our shifts separately.)
afterwards, we did some shopping.
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we were actually on a time crunch to get home quickly as chanda and i had matinee tickets to see "mary, queen of scots" with the scottish ballet. we arrived a little bit late and waited about ten minutes for the late seating with several other tardy audience members. it began well and we really enjoyed the music and the company's dancing . . they were wonderful! (chanda said she felt intuitively that the music was composed specifically for the ballet - she thought it had a particular dynamic quality to it). but by the time the first intermission was coming around we were growing disillusioned. the story line and dancing became very violent and didn't let up . . we also weren't sure which dancers were portraying mary and which ones were elizabeth. we did finally realize there were two elizabeths, but we couldn't figure out the story line. we had no idea what was happening, and it certainly wasn't good. when intermission came, we both obtained a program from the usher and were able to read the synopsis to understand the events in the two queens lives that we had just watched. in reading about act ii, it appeared it would be even more violent than act i. i knew that she was executed, but much of the other heavy action felt gratuitous to me. maybe this was how her life was, and i should have read more about her before purchasing tickets? however, the choreography should be able to convey the story with some clarity without having to read a synopsis. while reading the program, we also finally saw the "trigger" warning sign by the entrance to the house seats which we had been standing next to when first waiting to go in: "warning, scenes in this afternoon's show include child abuse, sexual abuse and execution." i decided i did not want to stay and chanda agreed to leave also. on the way out, the security guard at the door asked me if we were returning, i apologized and said, no! i'm so sorry! chanda laughed and said he only asked the question to know if he should look out for us - to let us back in for the rest of the ballet. i felt stuck in some strange world and was glad to walk awhile before hopping on the bus.
anyway, we took the bus to la bergamot cafe to sit and talk for a little while and then we walked home.
That performance does not sound like it is uplifting or making the world a better place. I would have left also. How many hours do you have to contribute to the Coop?
ReplyDeleteThat's so well said Eva, yes; making the world a better place is important :) We have work every six weeks at the coop for 2 and 3/4 hours.
DeleteI do think that many productions out there only want to shock people, no matter if it is dance, music, or art. Oh, that is doable! Is it mostly restocking?
DeleteI’m with you on walking out and Eva is spot on with her statement - those gratuitous portrayals were totally unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteYes. I think it's a sad way to be and they miss out on living life in a more positive manner. Plus, there's so suffering now that we must work to change for people, that I don't have the energy to sit through manufactured horror. My friend Janet also thought it did a disservice to her life, to portray it as just so much dysfunctional drama. She was a woman and a queen having to rule and maneuver in a man's world. I would have appreciated seeing a little more of the subtle ways she must have worked around that.
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