I just arrived home from the theatre where “Retreat from Moscow” closed. I had been given this show off, I didn’t have to take the pictures, so I knew about as much as anyone else about it besides already having seen the set. It was nice to just go and see a show there without having already seen it a few times over. Many of the theatre folk came and it was fun to see them, including two of the women I acted with in “Death of a Salesman”. I’ve done enough shows where people know me and appreciate my photographic work but I have a harder time placing them. I really do enjoy getting to know these folk, they are a fascinating bunch.
The play was about a marriage in the midst of divorce and the child caught between them. The last speech belonged to the son and it felt like it just tore the carpet out from beneath the feet of the audience. The play brought out some really good questions. It can be so hard when the communication lines aren’t open or one person doesn’t feel heard. Or even worse, when a person behaves badly toward the other person and they are trying to figure it out but struggle with it every time. Then you go away feeling bad because you know it’s you, not them, and you are left trying to find the words to say to them past the “I’m sorry.” Harder still, where do you find the way to change? I think those are the hardest words to say, the hardest things to do, what to do and say past the “I’m sorry”. Especially since you would never want to hurt them in the first place, when they deserve far better and you can do better than what you’ve done. Where do you even begin?
365-09 #171