The Mercy Seat

Profiles Theatre
Uptown, Chicago

Now playing through November 15th

At the bequest of my good friend Amanda, I headed into the city to check out Profiles Theatre's production of Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat. She was the Stage Manager.

(Not like the character, The Stage Manager, from Our Town. She was the actual Stage Manager. Just so we're clear.)

The play concerns two people in a New York apartment the day after the attacks of September 11th. One is married, one is not. One has decided to use the attacks as a means to get out of his fading marriage, as the ultimate Reset Button. A nice clean escape, only not so much.

Two people in a room, quietly talking, then massive shouty anger, then quiet again. It was like a Pixies song done as a 90-minute play.

LaBute's plays are about awful people doing awful things, and not even the horrors of Sept. 11th can cover the horrible choices pondered by these two people. It's real good.

Got the chance to meet a few of the Profiles crowd, and caught up with Amanda a bit. It's always wonderful to see her, and whenever we hang out we slip into this rapid-fire sarcasm-filled dialogue that wouldn't be out of place in a Howard Hawks film.

As usual, after consuming good quality Chicago theatre, I start wondering whether I could ever get involved with one of these groups. Sure I write and direct and run a successful (youth) theatre program, but I always wonder if I'm just a country mouse who would get laughed right out of them big fancy PRO-fessional-type places.

I've been told that I need to move on from my current station, and try something new, and I think about that sometimes, but then I'll get into a teaching groove, or Limelight will get more awesome, and then those plans fade away. The plan to publish The Last Dance is now over six years old, by the way.

We started working on a new play this week, speaking of Limelight. All These Will Be Worthless. So far it's a comedy about the fear of the end of the world, the fall of the Berlin wall, and a mutant-hunting Ronald Reagan. It'll be way better than The Mercy Seat.

Detroit City

So......Detroit.

Got here shortly after sundown. Drove along the downtown riverfront a bit until I found my hotel, tucked away in a small corner that took me a few minutes to locate.

The hotel is nice, although the bar was empty (more or less) when I went in to grab a beer and a late snack. So now I'm stuffed with potato skins, Heinekin, and Jameson. A modified McNulty diet.

The good news is there's no smoking ban in Michigan. So I enjoyed one of life's beautiful treats: sitting at a bar and having a smoke. They took it away from me in Ireland and Illinois, but I was able to enjoy this fading pastime.

Not that I smoke regularly. Usually when I'm working on a show I find myself having a cig or two, but I'll have to give up the fags here in the next week or so. No need to stay on that horse too long.

Now I have to figure out what to do with my day tomorrow. The wedding isn't until six, so I have all day. I'd like to get a good hike in somewhere, but I'm pretty unfamiliar with the place.

And then there's Canada. It's right across the river. I could go to Canada.


And then there's this girl. She got married last weekend. Part of the greater Limelight family, my assistant director last year on Julius Caesar, and one crazy-ass girl.

Wedding was a fun time. Got to see some of the other members of the theatrical community I've gotten myself mixed up with. Got to eat some pork. Got to hang with Kate a bit. Got to hear a lot of Beatles music.


So anyway....I'm in Detroit. And I'm in the Eastern time zone. So I'll probably be up until 4 am or something. Because I'm on one messed-up sleep schedule right now. This is what happens when your work schedule shifts to the evenings.

Time to see what trouble I can get myself into. Maybe wander my hotel a bit. I'm pretty much the only white guy here, so this could be real fun. I really hope I'm able to get myself invited to one of the many room parties that are going on around the hotel. I'll be sure to take many pictures of me hanging with real live African Americans. Mos def.

Hanratty

If you want an explanation for this picture, then click here to read about Limelight's day with The House Theatre.

Actually, the post doesn't really explain what the hell she's doing with that sign. Accepting my dare, I suppose.

Happy Near Year, everyone.

File Under: Obscure References

Last night I created a drinking game for The Third Man.

Drink whenever the camera angle is tilted, rubble appears on screen, or any time that crazy old lady who wears a big-ass quilt over herself shows up. (Or, as Amanda describes it, "She's wearing a bed!"

Or just drink when a good scene comes on, and you'll get messed up but good.

Damn that's a good film.

Christmastime, Continued