Holy Smoke! (Teacup Tipsy's review)

Jeff Stilwell as Man In The Box.  Courtesy Wendy Enden.

So that's why I've been bonkers the last few days.  Complete creative exhaustion.  Alarmingly incoherent babblings and rantings on Tuesday, the day after we closed.  After several glasses of wine, and Manya's soothing caresses; finally, tortured sleep.  The following day?  Press repeat, if to a less pronounced degree.  And so on.

Why the hell do we do this to ourselves as artists?

Can we do otherwise?  Well, I suppose.  Of course, on that day, a crucial part of us withers and dies.

(Then, too, this subject always brings to mind the painful memories of how many times I've been discarded as manic/depressive.  The odd thing is that the diagnosis typically comes from someone who works a routine 9 - 5 office job; needless to say, someone who has a hard time imagining artistic risk.)

Then, again, from time to time it proves worth it.  I have two things to offer up this morning.  The first is a slideshow of photos from the play in case you missed it.  You'll find the slideshow on the right.  (If you'd like to see larger sizes, simply click on the image.)   The photos ("candids" we call 'em, in the biz) are fairly the prettiest I've seen in some time for a play.  They were taken by a very talented photographer just on the horizon:  Wendy Enden (www.laughingtabbyphotography.com).  Enjoy!

Then, too, Teacup merited a review!  No small thing, given its sole weekend of performances (ordinarily The Enterprise Newspapers will spend its valuable column inches on a show running longer).  It has to be one of the most congratulatory reviews I've ever received; not least because the reviewer, Dale Burrows is not afraid to chastise me when he feels I stopped short of my potential.  Phrases like "that wows,"  "imaginative comedy and thoughtful fable," "blew away those of us," "ground-breaking in ways more than one" characterize the review.  I cheerfully admit that I bawled like a baby when I saw it.

Maybe the pain is worth it, after all?

Jeff