King Arthur is my Maine Man

So today, gentle readers, was a perfect example of a potentially shitty day that turned out to be great on all technical fronts, and a bit of a letdown performance-wise, at least as far as I was concerned. We performed today at Noble High School in Berwick, ME. Yep, a private performance, which conjured up all manner of horrific visions of loading in across grass and nonexistent wing space. Then, when I got up this morning and went to put my bag in the van, it was pouring. Oh yeah, it was shaping up to be a whale of a day. But then, when I got into the truck to head to the venue, Schneider told me that the high school not only had a dock, it was COVERED! My spirits brightened considerably; more than the skies, at least. Then we got into the space itself and discovered a theatre better than some of the professional spaces we've played on this tour. Ample wingspace, more than enough room up and downstage for our set to not only fit but also give us crossover and playing space. It was like working in a real theatre. I was amazed. We were able to fit everything onto the stage and still have room left over. Which meant we, the actors, were actually able to get around the set pieces stored in the wings without leaping over things in the dark and risking life and limb. (though the stage left platforms keep sliding apart in act two, and the thought of repairing the coffin locks in them seems to be beyond the reasoning powers of a certain SM) 

Then, after the show, we were taken to the high school's restaurant. Yes, you read that right, restaurant. Apparently, the Noble Knights run a restaurant that is open to the public called the Round Table. (Though I checked and there's not one single round table in the whole room.) It's only ope for an hour at lunch and an hour and 15 minutes at breakfast, and the proceeds go to a culinary scholarship program at the school. Students act as the waitstaff and, I assume, the cooks in the back. The head chef guy came out and it was obvious he was a teacher, but I have to assume since they're making things like Saltimbocca (which i had and was INCREDIBLE. Nothing like force-fed baby cow to really satisfy an after-show appetite. Mmmmmmm......confined calf.....) he's got a cadre of student chefs doing prep. For $7.50 you get a three course meal--appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I had Tuscan soup, which was a red pepper soup, the saltimbocca, and cannoli. It was beyond wonderful. This was without a doubt the best lunch we've had on this tour. The portions were the perfect size and the quality of the food rivaled that of actual restaurants. Major thumbs up to the ROund Table at Noble High School in Berwick, ME. We were all incredibly impressed. Especially since the neighborhood surrounding the school sort of made the guys in Deliverance look like sophisticated men about town. I applaud a school in a depressed area that is willing to come up with creative ways to finance a way to get their students some actual career skills and are willing to put money behind an actual arts space. You can tell by looking at the space, which seats 900, that this school takes it seriously. Since they have a huge sign with their sports mascot on it on the front of the school, you know they aren't shy about pushing their sports program (we drove past their football field and that is a HUGE, very well-kept place as well.) but what I like is that it appears that they can balance the focus on athletics with being willing to also put forth an effort in other areas as well. I wish more schools were willing to do that. Now, this school very well may be the only game in town for damn near an entire district, considering the fact it seemed to be the size of some of the smaller European nations, so they may have the lion's share of the district budget, so they are more able to strike that balance. But too often, whether school shave the money or not, they tend to take a narrow view of what they are willing to focus their students on, and I think that does a disservice to the student body, regardless of which direction they go. There's nothing wrong with athletics as long as they are not allowed to overshadow everything else, and vice versa.

So the school, the people, and the lunch were all wonderful. The problem? The show. The kids seemed to be really into it, at least according to Flo, who spends the whole time in the audience, but I felt out of it. I can only speak for me, but the whole show felt off for me. Maybe I'm just tired. Everyone seemed to be dragging a bit, but I swear I felt like I wasn't even on stage. I thin it's just the last few weeks of way too long drives catching up with me. Or maybe I'm just being too tough on myself. I don't know. I'm just glad that tomorrow is Friday. Of course, that means we get to perform here in Boston for Pat and Spring. And Spring's holding a production meeting immediately after the show, which further means that the van isn't gong anywhere after the show for a while, since Levitt has to be at the meeting. And there's a chance that Spring will have Flo read for her again to see if they want to offer her a slot as an actor in the fall. All of which means we're going to be knocking around Boston tomorrow until late in the afternoon. And, if you have to knock around a city until late afternoon, there are worse cities than Boston. Jackson, MS, for instance. (Shudder)