It Did Happen Here

The reading of It Can't Happen Here at Dell'Arte last night went very well, and my intro was well-received.  It was a great experience being part of the reading with such good actors.  I was most impressed however by the attentiveness of the audience.  There was no scenery, no costumes, no music, not even a microphone, and nothing much was happening on the stage--just fifteen people sitting at tables across the stage, reading the play and interacting as much as they could, but sometimes conducting dialogues with people between them.  And people were listening to every word, for 2 and a half hours total, including one 15 minute intermission.  Awesome.

I'm sure my own reading about this Great Depression period will inform future posts, as it has altered my perspective on what's happening now.

Several people involved in the reading remarked on how little they knew about the Federal Theatre Project.  Here again is the link to what I wrote about it on Stage Matters.