OMG Lisa found time to do something fun!

Remember when I said I'll write when I have something worth writing about? Well, I do, and I'm killing time before I can head out to the beach behind my hotel on Hilton Head Island.

Wednesday I saw a damn good play, and a damn good movie.


First was the play. I took advantage of my college ID with no expiration date to get cheap, yet excellent seats to The 39 Steps at the Cort Theatre. The stage version includes every scene from the 1935 Hitchcock film. Some are fully acted out, some are done using steamer trunks as various set pieces, and some are done with models, toys, and even shadow puppets. The shadow puppets were my favorite. Another very fun aspect is that the play has 150 characters, played by 4 actors. Most of them are played by two actors, that are often playing 3 or 4 roles at the same time, adding to that clown feel. Christopher Bayes (c'mon circus nerds!) directed a lot of the movement, and it's pretty damn good.

I highly recommend this one. If you can't get the student prices, they also have another promotion going. Each performance has 39 seats that will cost $39. It's not specific seats or anything, you just have to ask at the box office for those seats, and if they're still available, you get them.

Then after the show I watched the latest Netflix arrival, Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus. I've had this recommended to me for a while ago, and at first look I thought "great, my friends like it because it's basically graphic porn with a plot." While the guys are good looking, that's not what I need to call it a good movie. Then it grew on me. It's about a couples and their relationships with other couples/other people. One woman is a sex therapist who has never had an orgasm. There is a gay couple who decide to open up the relationship, but you don't learn the reason why until the very end. There is a seemingly bad ass dominatrix who has the same name as a celebrity and can't deal with it. All of these people go to a place called Shortbus for thereapy, experimentation, and potcorn. Yes potcorn. The brownies are clean, the popcorn is not. There is even a sweet old man at Shortbus who claims to be the mayor of New York. (Ed Koch anyone) My favorite line from the movie comes from him. After explaining that young people are flocking to NYC now because 9/11 is the only real thing that has ever happened to them, he tells a young man "people come to New York to be fucked. People also come to New York to be forgiven." Every character is severely damaged in some way, but don't worry, everything will be ok. One of my favorite character interactions is between a married couple. They get into an argument, and before things get ugly they sit on the floor facing each other and just start screaming. Not screaming words, just screaming. I like it.



The production quality made me very happy. There are some lovely animations of NYC through the credits and as scene changes. Above is the best image I could find. The rest of the cinematography had a touch of cartooniness. Not too in your face, just nice.