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Sep. 30th, 2006
Well, if this isn't a fine how-do-you-do!
Sep. 30th, 2006 11:21 pmAt about 8 tonight my wife calls me in tears because the director of Othello at Theatre Memphis has said some untoward things about her behind her back, instead of taking it up with her like the professional that she claims to be. I've got my wife having to finish up the show in a hostile work environment, unwilling to confront the director and give her the tongue lashing she so richly deserves because "the show and the cast should be more important than the costumer" (my wife's quote--not the director's). She's taking the abuse and the catty behavior in the service of the show, knowing that the director is in all likelihood saying bad things about her to Important People.
I'd like to think that I'm above such pettiness, but when I look over my recent posts, I realize that I gave the show the savaging that it's earned locked behind a friends-only post, thinking that I was sparing the feelings of folks who might be involved with the show, and that I was being tactful. The director might be a bit perturbed that the local theatre critic did his job properly and actually nailed the shows weaknesses with a good deal less snark than I did in his review (registration probably required--they don't check email addresses). But among persons who have seen the show, the opinion is generally universal.
In any case, the director told a costume assistant that she wasn't speaking to my wife again until she received an apology. For what, I don't know, and neither does Amy. Ruining her play? It's not as if Amy told Othello to play the second act with his hands over his face while speaking in an unintelligble accent, or Desdemona to deliver all of her lines with her back to the audience and occasionally go into three-second bouts of hysteria, or Iago to wave his arms in a semaphore delivery of his lines. Hell, from what I understand, even the costume oddities (Emilia is dressed like a schoolteacher from 1985, everyone else is dressed in turn-of-the-century pieces) were done at the director's behest.
Amy's upset, hurt, and more than a little angry at the lack of appreciation that she's received, between staying up all night sewing costumes to being at rehearsals beyond what's expected of a costumer, to suffering some pretty significant personal losses that aren't really appropriate to discuss here. Honestly, it's unlikely that the director really cares--after all, we all make sacrifices for shows, and what's one weighed against another? Except everyone else involved in the show receives praise in return, and it's hardly appropriate that Amy's sacrifices, no matter how they compare, get rewarded with scorn.
So this post is public. I've been given instructions to refrain from meddling in what's essentially my wife's personal business, even though an attack on her is effectively an attack on me, and should I have occasion to interact with the director again it will be difficult for me to conceal my revulsion. Will it make a difference? Unlikely. My own opinion of a person's worthiness is hardly a consideration anyone, much less the director who is both widely respected among the intellectual, and generally reviled among those who have to put up with her shit.
I'd like to think that I'm above such pettiness, but when I look over my recent posts, I realize that I gave the show the savaging that it's earned locked behind a friends-only post, thinking that I was sparing the feelings of folks who might be involved with the show, and that I was being tactful. The director might be a bit perturbed that the local theatre critic did his job properly and actually nailed the shows weaknesses with a good deal less snark than I did in his review (registration probably required--they don't check email addresses). But among persons who have seen the show, the opinion is generally universal.
In any case, the director told a costume assistant that she wasn't speaking to my wife again until she received an apology. For what, I don't know, and neither does Amy. Ruining her play? It's not as if Amy told Othello to play the second act with his hands over his face while speaking in an unintelligble accent, or Desdemona to deliver all of her lines with her back to the audience and occasionally go into three-second bouts of hysteria, or Iago to wave his arms in a semaphore delivery of his lines. Hell, from what I understand, even the costume oddities (Emilia is dressed like a schoolteacher from 1985, everyone else is dressed in turn-of-the-century pieces) were done at the director's behest.
Amy's upset, hurt, and more than a little angry at the lack of appreciation that she's received, between staying up all night sewing costumes to being at rehearsals beyond what's expected of a costumer, to suffering some pretty significant personal losses that aren't really appropriate to discuss here. Honestly, it's unlikely that the director really cares--after all, we all make sacrifices for shows, and what's one weighed against another? Except everyone else involved in the show receives praise in return, and it's hardly appropriate that Amy's sacrifices, no matter how they compare, get rewarded with scorn.
So this post is public. I've been given instructions to refrain from meddling in what's essentially my wife's personal business, even though an attack on her is effectively an attack on me, and should I have occasion to interact with the director again it will be difficult for me to conceal my revulsion. Will it make a difference? Unlikely. My own opinion of a person's worthiness is hardly a consideration anyone, much less the director who is both widely respected among the intellectual, and generally reviled among those who have to put up with her shit.