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July 06, 2006

Backtrack: Santa Ana

We've been living in the new house now for two weeks, but I've hardly had time to breathe, so I forgot to report on my time in southern California. The weather was great, and it was blissful seeing my friends Eryk and Bryce. And the Rude Guerrilla production of the Mysterious Skin play (see more info from my blog entry a few weeks back) was snappy, confrontational, sometimes brutal, and all-around well-acted and -directed. I went with my trusty cohort and book-to-stage adapter Prince Gomolvilas and his friend, filmmaker Gabriel Fleming; I was also lucky enough to snag Brady Corbet from his busy schedule, and the four of us Rent-A-Carred to Santa Ana for the show. And here's where I'm going to let Prince take over. The following is an excerpt from Prince's own excellent weblog, and he tells the details of that night much better than I can. First, a little pause for photos of us in the rental car (Prince, Brady) and at our quick pre-show dinner (Gabriel)... okay, now take it, Prince:

"Skin novelist Scott Heim hit town this past weekend, and we made plans to go see the play together last Saturday. As we walked the streets of downtown Glendale, Scott kept thinking that he had been to Glendale before. I assured him that this was not true because people from out of town never end up in Glendale for any reason whatsoever——there's no point. But he insisted. After beer, he shut up about it, and we were on our way.
"We carpooled with my friend Gabriel Fleming, who was celebrating his birthday, and Scott's actor friend Brady Corbet.... Brady has an encyclopedic knowledge of independent and foreign film, and I would describe him as an 80-year-old version of Scott trapped inside the body of a 17-year-old.
"Anyway, the production is pretty great. There's a level of precision that the director and actors bring to the text. Isn't it wonderful when actors actually understand the lines they are saying? It then gives them room to play and discover nuance and depth. I cried three times.
"Scott and I knew that the actors were nervous that we were in the audience, so we had the idea to play a really mean practical joke. Scott was going to stand up at the end of the play and scream, "You decimated my vision!" And I was going to yell, "This is a travesty of justice!" But we couldn't bring ourselves to do it, and we both really did love the show.
"There was a post-play discussion scheduled with the director and actors, and, since Scott and I were around, we were pulled onto stage as well. The word "fisting" was thrown around so many times and so casually out of seemingly demure mouths that both Scott and I were squirming in our seats. Brady later mentioned that we should've started a drinking game, where you would have to take a swig every time someone said "fisting." The whole place would've been drunk. And I would've been on my ninth Shirley Temple."

Oh, that Prince. The photos above help illustrate his story--that's us with some of the actors after the show. (Unfortunately I didn't take all that many decent shots. If you want, you can find more from the production here). The run is over now, sadly--its last night was July 1st. A big thanks to director Dave Barton and everyone in the cast and crew for doing such a fantastic job, and for making us feel welcome while we were there. A totally great bunch of people-- we were sad we couldn't stay longer.

I'll give updates on the house soon, I promise. I'm still trying to unbox everything and decide where I want things and coordinate and compromise with Michael. Tomorrow will be the delivery of our new sofa & chair, and Monday, our washer/dryer. I really need a drink.