Archive for March 8th, 2007

The Light Inside is a 35 minute play with three actors with the narrative set in three different realms.

The first realm is a series glimpses into our protagonist Lily. (played by the deeply inpsired and very skilled playwright and producer of the show: Lindsay Wolf). Lily is a young girl in therapy sessions. Sessions that begin in early age, maybe 5 or 6 and progresses through early adulthood.

The second realm is Lily in her winter years. Rocking chair and sweater, with a photo album of joyous days and years past. Her loving husband Samuel pacing back and forth behind her muttering “Yes, dear.”

The third realm is a dance. A dream. The girl and some phantom boy, trying to engage, trying to be close, and in each repeatition of the dream they grow closer. Sometimes further away.

Something happened to Lily as a child. Specifics of it aren’t important, all we know is that she was abused by someone close to her. It’s hinted at early, perhaps as subtly as the playwright seemed to be able to muster. But as a focal point of The Light Inside, the audience needs to know: Lily is damaged, and can’t find her way out of the nightmares and the alienation that have come from it.

The “Elder” scenes however showed an old woman who could remember nothing but joy in her youth with her loving husband.

What bridged the gap between these two women? The dance-dreams hint at it, nudge us toward the answer through a series of silent steps. that gulf that at the end of the 35 minutes was filled with a comforting, inspiring revelation.

Lindsay’s performance as Young Lily, through three stages of her youth, growing up byt forever trying to eleviate her herself of the pain of her dark secret was marvellous.

Elder Lily, however was somewhat forced. With a grating, senility-tinged voice and her hunched, slowly pacing husband Samuel. It can be difficult for a pair of twenty-somethings to play octegenarians without it seeming like a mockery of old age. But in a brief, sweet play, we walk away from The Light Inside with the comfort that no matter how broken we may feel, there’s still the hope, and the determination that we can and we do get better.

Editors NOTE: It’s VERY IMPORTANT to support small community theater. Even when confronted with a “perfect storm” of bad PR.

By this I mean a Theater company called FRIGID, putting on a show at the end of winter in a black-box theater with bad heating. But it’ll be 50 degrees this weekend!! So get out there and support FRIGID

I walked in to The Big Quiz Thing and the place was packed. No seats anywhere and none of my friends were there yet. It was only 7:30. Oh well. They finally arrive and we get our drinks and as Shannon hands me my jack and coke, it somehow spills up my sleeve. Not a good start to the night. I got a Big Quiz Thing pad and pencil from Noah Tarnow, the host, and my team and I force ourselves into a crowded corner by the doors so we have something to lean on. Our team name was uncoolkids dot com. Original, I know. My favorite team name of the night was “Buy more chairs”. Right on.

The quiz itself? HARD. I didn’t know I was so dumb. Actually, I was a little smarter than I thought. Here’s a hint: don’t second guess yourself. Every time I did, I was all “D’oh! I should have gone with my first guess.” There were five rounds with about 10-15 questions about movies, Fortune 500 companies, books, unusual deaths of famous people, candy bars, politics, even a ‘name that tune’ round…a little something for everyone. They also give away Smart-Ass Points. If you don’t know the answer, make something up, and if it’s funny, Noah will read it and decide if you get a Smart-Ass Point based on audience response.

I thought I had put together a pretty decent team and while we didn’t come in last, we certainly didn’t come in first, not even close. Regardless, we had a blast. Noah Tarnow is a charming and delightful host; not at all creepy and orange like a Bob Barker or Chuck Woolery type. And you can win prizes like books or CDs or Entenmann’s donuts (the team that was in 17th place won these) or the grand prize of the evening: $200!! The Big Quiz Thing is a good excuse to get your friends together and go out on a Monday night. Just get there early. I spoke with a regular who said she usually gets there at 6:30 or 7:00 to score a booth for her team . You can bring in outside food and have a couple of drinks before the show begins. Also, they want teams of at least four people, but never fear. If you show up alone, they’ll find a team for you. For those of you looking to cheat, don’t try it cause you’ll most likely get caught. Plus Noah doesn’t like cheaters and frankly, neither do I.

I can’t wait to go to The Slipper Room for The Big Quiz Thing again. Next time, however, I will get there early because I want a booth!!