October 25 – Day 49: (Pause.) (Smiles.) (Pause.) (Smiles more broadly.) (Pause.)

One of the things I love about this town is the “only in New York” aspect of it. While I suppose you could say that about any city, there really is something unique about what happens here.

Case in point: On Monday or Tuesday, I saw a Facebook post stating that Dianne Wiest would be performing a Beckett play in the middle of Madison Square Park all week. From the photo, it looked like Happy Days, but it was billed as Passing. I opened the complete Beckett plays book in my app (doesn’t everyone have that?) and didn’t see anything by that title, so I was curious.

Since it was listed as running from noon to 1:00, I didn’t have time to see the performance on Wednesday, so I resolved to go Thursday. Despite still not feeling 100% (much better, but still not up to par), I got up, had a quick breakfast, and headed for the subway—managing to miss the 6 by about ten seconds. (If only I hadn’t stopped at Starbucks!) It was a beautifully sunny and chilly day, so it figured to be a nice day to stand out in the park and watch a play.

 I mean, come on ...

The train let me off at 23^rd and Park, about a block from the park, but I wasn’t sure where to go. It’s not all that big, though, so it wasn’t hard to find (seeing the crowd up in the northeast corner helped). The performance had already started, but it’s Beckett and I know the play, so it’s not like there’s a lot of plot to catch up on.

When I got to the spot, there she was, standing in an urn, and it was immediately pretty apparent she was doing Happy Days, after all. (I’m guessing the alternate title was some kind of compromise with the notoriously-punctilious Beckett estate.) I broke out the Beckett plays again and followed along, curious not only how she was going to truncate a two-act play into less than an hour, but also how they would negotiate the change between Acts One and Two, when Winnie (her character) goes from being buried up to her waist to being buried up to her neck.

 

 

This guy spent most of the performance taking photos rather than watching.

The former was well-done, if only through prudent cuts and eliminating the character of Winnie’s husband, Willie. The latter was done by not even pretending to do anything theatrical; she simply stopped at the end of the first act, turned, a woman came out and draped what looked like a shawl made out of a carpet around her neck. She turned back front, and resumed.

The crazy thing about it all wasn’t that it was done; it was that a wildly-diverse group of people stopped and watched someone do a difficult Beckett play; not just watching, but reacting and even laughing at the appropriate places.

It was all over by about 12:35, and after getting a close-up look at the urn, I briefly toyed with the idea of getting out and doing something, but thought better of it, figuring I’d be better off resting up. As it turned out, by the time I got home, I felt pretty wiped out, so it was probably the right decision.

 I think our Sam and Dede urns were nicer, 

but weren't 360 degrees.

I didn’t do a heck of a lot while I was here; read some papers, watched some TV, had a snack, and took a nap until it was time to leave. It was a little warmer than earlier in the day, but I still bundled up, figuring it would be pretty cold by the time I left the theatre.

Backstage, things were typical, but whatever GG and I had (and he continues to have) seems to be spreading; both Trish and Andi said their throats were feeling a little scratchy. Even though GG’s ailments seem to be worse than mine (and at least a part of that can be chalked up to his not getting a break during the show, and having to talk pretty much non-stop for two hours), I’m hopeful that, if anyone else does come down with anything, it passes as quickly as mine seems to have done (that said, I feel a little congestion in my chest today; this looks like a job for Mucinex).

The show went well. We seem to have gotten into a place where it keeps growing and expanding, and audiences seem to be responding. They were mostly quiet again Wednesday, but they reacted throughout, and the applause at the end was pretty enthusiastic (and there didn’t seem to be too many friends and/or family, so one assumes it was legit).

There was no game, so I wasn’t in a particular hurry to get home. I thought about getting a drink at the theatre bar, but the only people there were from the other show (they’re always there; they drink a lot), and the trio was playing, so it was pretty loud.

I took the 4 to Union Square, the L to 1^st Avenue, and was trying to figure out where to go for supper when I came across a wine bar I’d missed before, Ten Degrees. It wasn’t too loud and seemed pleasant enough, so I sat at the bar, ordered a cocktail, and just people-watched. I asked if their kitchen as still serving, but they weren’t, so when I was done, I picked up, stopped for an ice-cream (on a frigid evening) and, with really no other options, ended up at Sunny and Annie’s again, getting a chicken parm sandwich, which was pretty good, even if the chicken was a little cold.

Between eating the sandwich and watching television, it was a dull evening once I got home, but there’s nothing wrong with that. I turned in reasonably early, even though I had no plans for Friday that would require me to get up. I figured staying in and resting was the best option.