Lisa Kron's Well - Interesting Play Totally Pulled Me In

We went to a local theater performance recently that got great reviews, but didn't really excite me all that much. It was good, but not THAT good. Which raised questions about what my purpose is here. Basically the purpose is to explore things that expand how I know the world and maybe expand readers' understanding of how they know. But how to apply that isn't always clear. I also consider how what I write might affect others. I'd rather cheer on something good than rag on something that didn't work.

So, if I see a local event - a performance, exhibit etc. - that is good - particularly if it explores how people know things in some way, which good art should do - I clearly want to let others know about it. I want people to go to local venues, give them appreciative audiences, keep them alive financially, so we continue to have access to them.

But what if I don't like it? Should I say so or should I just not write about it? If I think something is damaging I'll take it up if I have time and energy. But what if it is innocuously not very good? Their intent was good, but they just didn't excite me at all? At this point I think I'll just not deal with it. I'm not completely comfortable with that decision, so I'm open to other opinions on this.


Now, the Well. I like to come into a performance with no knowledge of what I'm going to see. Of course, this isn't easy, but my ideal is just to be told by someone I trust, that I should go. I want to discover it as it unfolds, be surprised by having my expectations ambushed.

I basically knew nothing about this play, except that we'd seen Lisa Kron here a couple years ago and that her piece and performance were stunning. That was enough to know.

The Well, which opened last night, experiments with the whole idea of a play - the roles of the actors, the audience, the story. It examines itself, and examines itself examining itself. I suspect that sort of thing could be too cerebral for some people, but I loved it.

The lead character seemed a little stiff at times, but I'm not sure that wasn't the role itself. The audience wasn't totally sure of its role either and that may have affected her opening night performance. Overall, it was a great experience and left us all talking about it. I thought it was much better than the highly praised performance we saw but were not so excited about. The other cast members totally inhabited their roles. So much so that even when they played different characters there was no confusion at all. When it was over I thought it was the intermission, but my watch showed that two hours had passed.

It's at Out North and will be here for a couple of weeks more. You can get tickets for slightly less on line.

About the picture. I normally wouldn't a take picture during live performances unless I have permission. This was at the very beginning. I thought it was before things had started, but now I'm not totally sure.