Camus: "One must always imagine Sisyphus happy".
Gopkin: "to act decently while accepting that acts are always essentially absurd" is the only way to act.
Camus was not an evangelical.
My stones are moving and my Sisyphean smile is very weak.
It's been a busy week and writing will take me away from my absurd kidney.
Wednesday I saw a matinee of 'End of the Rainbow', starring Tracie Bennett. It was written by Peter Quilter who has admitted that when he was writing the show he did no research. Fans of Judy Garland are opposed to the show for that reason and also that the show is a very dark [negative] portrait of a great artist. John Fricke, a Garland historian, has quoted Judy's daughter Lorna Luft who said Judy Garland's life had a lot of tragedy but she was not a tragic person.
My complaint with the show is that it is an impersonation, and about drug addiction more than anything else. The story of great female performers who used drugs and died young is a popular pop culture topic. Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Huston and others have battled addiction and died young. Tragic lives?
For Garland see Jack Paar's interviews. Not just witty, belly laughs.
Thursday I saw the Paul Taylor Dance Company at Lincoln Center. Talk about fun. They always make me feel good. They did Aureole, Troilus and Cressida, Beloved Renegade, and Promethean Fire. They are on You Tube. Not as good as seeing them live but worth a look.
Friday: dinner at the Natural Gourmet, very good vegan dinner.
4000 miles, a very entertaining drama about a young troubled man and his grandmother, is written by Amy Herzog and stars the great Mary Louise Wilson as the grandmother and an equally good Gabriel Ebert as the young man. I found some of the drama was centered on the 'mystery of the young man's problem' which for me was not the most engaging part of the show. Similar to 'The Lady From Dubuque' the 'problem' is easily imagined or expressed early on. What is wonderful about both plays are the portraits of the central character and the performances of the actresses.
I never knew my grandmother but after the performance of Mary Louise Wilson and also having seen my mother with her grandchildren, I miss not having had that relationship. Different than a mother's love. Maturity brings acceptance of others' foibles. A good thing to have in relationships in or out of family.
Sunday: a day of rest.
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