We struck Significant Others this afternoon, insofar as packing up some props and moving a few pieces of furniture back to storage can be called a strike. Leta and I got two solid performances in, after some technically shifty work on our part on Thursday and Friday. The flavors continued to develop over the weekend, and at least some of the fishy bits on my part got clearer. Now I regret not having a few more rehearsals to continue to sharpen things up.
It was fun to get to do a part with so much light banter: think of the fiery relationship between Walter and Hildy in His Girl Friday. And to get most of the laughs, even though I still don’t understand why “It wasn’t my fault. She was your sister.” was so successful.
Director Sharon also dressed the set as one of the outdoor lounges at an expensive wedding reception, and it looked great. We reused the table and chairs that we used for The Gold Lunch last year (which turn out to belong to Andrea, and they’re going back to her house, which is too bad, ’cause it’s nearly the only nice furniture the Stage had).
Update: In an earlier draft I neglected to mention the fabulous tuxedo that Sharon rented for me from a local shop in exchange for a program ad. It’s the first time I’ve worn clothes with bar codes on them. Leta also bargained a sparkly lavender formal (flashy, but not to outshine the bride) for herself.
I took a suggestion from Evan and learned my pages back to front, which worked well for me. I think he says something like, “as the play progresses, you’re heading for your happy place, where you are most familiar with the script.” And Husband has his longer passages toward the end of the play. Early on, the dialogue that Steve has written is a lot of short phrases and sentences, and easy to learn. But it’s full of transitions that sort of skip from to another like following stones in a stream crossing (and it was these transitions that gave me memory trouble), as Husband is trying to ask a question that he’s not sure he wants to hear the answer to. In fact, Husband never does ask in so many words, and Wife calls him on it.
HUSBAND: What did I say?
WIFE: Nothing. But I know what you were thinking.
HUSBAND: I wasn’t thinking anything.
WIFE: You were.
HUSBAND: I was. And the answer is no?
The pleasant surprise was that the rush-hour commute to Maryland was much easier to take than it was in July. Friday, I barely slowed at the big curves on the Beltway near the Mormon Temple, and otherwise had a straight drive in, so I was way too early arriving for my call. I guess everyone really did go to the shore this month.
Over the years, I’ve developed a number of tactical responses to the inevitable traffic jams in eastern Fairfax and lower Montgomery Counties. At bottom, you have to cross the triple barriers of the Potomac River, the CSX railroad corridor, and Rock Creek and its greenbelt, and you have a limited number of ways to do it. I’ve assembled routes involving Chain Bridge, Western Avenue, and East-West Highway; or University Boulevard through Kensington if I bail out of the Beltway once I get across the river; or my new tricky favorite:
- cross the Potomac on the Beltway at Cabin John, and immediately slide off onto the Barton Parkway;
- at the first exit, jog over to MacArthur Boulevard;
- cross over on the stone arch bridge, restricted for many years to one lane of traffic in alternating directions;
- climb out of the valley on Wilson Lane (can be a bad left turn here);
- traversing a lot of expensive real estate, tack left and right on Rayburn Road, Bradley Boulevard, Huntington Parkway, Old Georgetown Road, and then on to Cedar Lane;
- cross under the Beltway and turn into Beach Drive to follow Rock Creek east and downstream;
- left on Stoneybrook Drive, past the Temple campus and over the railroad, around an incredibly blind curve to the intersection with Capitol View Avenue;
- wind through more historic neighborhoods, turn left on Forest Glen Avenue at the old stone post office;
- cross Georgia Avenue and Sligo Creek;
- freestyle from here: Sligo Creek Parkway or Brunett Avenue or any of the neighborhood streets to University Boulevard;
- and you’re in Four Corners!