Good weekend in the Brook

My daughter Natalie did a great job directing her first full length play, Sailor Song by John Patrick Shanley. With her grandparents, we saw the matinee in a small theater in the arts building at Stony Brook University. She met us as we were going in. For a moment I didn't recognize her. Tall, thin, and dressed in a black skirt, heels, and nice gray top, she was, well, elegant.

"Where should we sit?" I asked her. Peering gracefully around the entrance door she whispered, "If you don't mind, front row center please." And we did. And were pleased.

"You were a great, intelligent, responsive audience," she told us later. She'd watched us from a hidden location. We let her know that her intelligent and engaging treatment of the play made it easy to enjoy ourselves.

I am amazed that she was able to take freshmen and sophomores, some of whom had never been in a play, and showed them how to turn themselves into believable characters. And, she told us, they taught her as much as she taught them. Now she understands the work it takes to be so very much in charge of the entire show.

I got to meet teachers she'd told me about for years. Kathleen who heads up the Swallow This troupe and Val the acting guru. We agreed how far she has come in the last few years. How nice a way to mark her last semester.

Back at my parents house, Natalie arrived between shows with a load of laundry and cards to write to all the members of cast and crew. Last performance tonight.

This weekend was also a Model A Ford convention, on a street near my parent's was a long line of parked, shiny, antique cars...