The Theater! How Elegant and Fancy! And...Brainy!

(Full disclosure: this blog entry has been sitting in my documents folder, unposted, for a month.  Sorry!)

We had quite a bit of fun in May attending a couple of plays put on by local groups.  The first was called Red and we saw it at the EPCOR Centre.  The play is based on the life of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, a contemporary of Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still. [Side note: I just realized Collin and I have visited Rothko's 'Black on Black' paintings at the National Gallery in D.C., and were not impressed. At all. And there is a story behind that, but I won't get into it now.  Here is a better blogger's take on the exhibit and the paintings.]

  It doesn’t really sound like the makings of good theater, but it was excellent.  With just two actors on a one-set stage (Rothko’s studio) it was made riveting by emotionally-charged scenes and thought-provoking dialogue:  

"Everything becomes everything else and it's all nice and pretty and likable.  Everything is fun in the sun!  Where's the discernment?  Where's the arbitration that separates what I like from what I respect, what I deem worthy, what has...listen to me now...significance?"

 Rothko's assistant, Ken spends a lot of time on stage building frames, stretching canvass, mixing paints, and mopping the floor.  The kinetic high-point was when the two artists primed a 5’ x 7’ canvas with brilliant red paint, to the time of classical music blaring from their record player.  For one moment, the audience got to feel the joy that these artists (on their good days) must experience.  It was marvelous.  

We enjoyed it quite a bit, and it gave me a smug, fuzzy feeling to leave the theater and engage in a conversation about the purpose and function of art.  I felt super fancy.

We also went with some friends to see a live stage adaption of Night of the Living Dead at the Pumphouse Theater.  We’d decided beforehand that, 1) Eating a large meal was a good idea, and 2) the Pumphouse was located within easy walking distance from the pub.  It was nearby, as the crow flies.  As it was, we had to cross the river, cross the train tracks, cross the train tracks again, get lost, cross the freeway, walk along the train tracks again until we finally stumbled across the parking lot for the theater. 

This is Ben.  He was a badass.

 It would have been a five minute drive, but it took us forty-five minutes of brisk trotting because the mapping app on Collin's phone is STUPID.  By the time we got there, we were sweating, out of breath, and nervous that we’d miss the beginning.  We were in perfect shape to watch a zombie play.

 The play followed the plot of George Romero’s original 1968 Night of the Living Dead pretty closely, complete with 1960s setting.  The majority of the actors were students at Mount Royal University, and their inexperience was evident for a lot of the play.  One of the clearly more veteran actors played the character of Ben with a new twist - he was a returning Vietnam vet on anti-psychotics medicine.  This was a detail that wasn’t played up in the first half of the play, and only becomes a major plot point toward the end, when we get to see that the only character with any level of competence in this situation is slowly unravelling.  

The gore was pretty convincingly and revoltingly done - entrails and fake skin being ripped apart by zombie extras.  The most brilliant bit of gore was the final headshot at the end, wherein the only survivor Ben is mistakenly gunned down by a state militia officer.  It was startling and shocking, even as I was expecting it.  The actor timed it perfectly.

It was a good way to get pumped for our upcoming 5K - the Zombie 5K race and obstacle course.  Collin and I started the ‘Couch to 5k’ training regime (boy, am I out of shape!), and if we don’t die in the training, should be able to dodge zombies with ease adequately by the end of July.  The obstacle course, however...well, I can only hope the course will be populated with slow zombies.  

Briefly recapping before returning to our regularly scheduled (late) updates

Well, it's been an unusual couple of weeks.  Collin and I (and Kowalski the Cat) did end up being evacuated for three days when the Bow River broke it's banks and started flowing up Crowchild. While our apartment was untouched, many nearby neighborhoods were hit pretty hard.  I spent last week working with various groups to help people dig mud and gunk out of their houses, remove drywall and insulation, and treating the bare bones with bleach before things started to rot and mould too badly.

Every basement I visited was destroyed.  This is especially tough because in Calgary, basements are the most affordable apartment options.  Their tenants (lots of students, and single parent households) don't have money to spare.  These apartments lost most of their belongings - mud and contaminated water soaked clothing, destroyed electronics and books.  So sad.

  My favorite place to walk, Prince's Island, was under water for a good chunk of the flooding.  We went to investigate the damage last Monday - full-grown uprooted pines, washed down river, have lodged in the trees on the island.  Benches were ripped out of the ground and the banks have been eroded and undercut.  Many of our favorite bike trails along the river are unsafe, and the city is still requesting that everyone (despite the recent scorching temperatures) stay out of the river until the tons of dangerous debris can be removed.  And the zoo - oh!  The poor zoo!

One of the bridges to Prince's Island completely
washed out.  

In short, Calgary is kind of a mess right now, but it's getting better.  The message sent out by the Mayor is basically: help your neighbors when they need it, and spend spend spend!  The Stampede starts tomorrow and will, hopefully, inject desperately needed revenue into the city's business to help rebuilding efforts.