… that helps blow away the accumulation of cobwebs in the mind. I have always found that to be true… for me. As the scenery whizzes by not only are priorities sorted out but entire thoughts are formulated. That’s what happened to me this weekend as I drove to (and today from) San Francisco. In fact, I arrived a few hours ago.
It began on Saturday morning. I woke up arguing with myself if I should even make the trip (which I had been planning to make for over a month). The sinus headache that had a grip hold on me 2 days prior was actually the perfect excuse not to go. Finally, at 9 AM I capitulated and called to book a room for 2 nights at The Monarch.
By 11 AM I was on the road. “This will be good for the truck”, I thought to myself. Since its resurrection there were still unknowns in terms of performance on a long haul such as this. So, this gave me further justification to pack up and go. The Blue Devil did fine BTW.
So, go I did. Confidence rising both in the handling of the truck as well as my handling of it as I got closer to the city. (OK quirk disclosure: I actually enjoy driving in the city which scares most of my friends to death.) Besides, it would be the closing weekend of the SF Fringe. I could catch some shows meet up with some friends and eat at some of my favorite places. All of which I accomplished at a leisurely pace.
I caught 4 shows over 2 days. In the past, “fringe weekend” for me was usually a marathon of shows (anywhere from 12 to 14) over the weekend. This was true even in the pre-Rogue days. Back then (starting in 1995 – that year I actually had a show running in the festival) it was an opportunity to creatively rejuvenate my juices. Checking out new works and styles (even the ones that were less successful in execution) always sparked possibilities and reignited a fresh attitude to my work.
Even when I was running the Rogue I made it a point for several years to expose members of the organizing team to the Fringe. (Most of the current team have never been which I find a little disconcerting.) After all, the Rogue is a “fringesque” festival. Not only did it raise the excitement level of what they were directly involved in mounting but also exposed them to the kind of theatre that the festival (the Rogue) was bringing to town. The Rogue usually provided monies for hotel rooms with the rest of the expenses (food, tickets, etc) borne by those going… plus it did wonders for a tighter sense of camaraderie.
These yearly trips also provided the opportunity to network and hopefully woo national and international acts to the Rogue. Representation from the Rogue was noticeably absent at this year’s SF Fringe. I mused privately (for about 5 seconds) while I was there how this “new complacency” would spill over into the other inner workings of the upcoming Rogue in March. But this trip was for me.
Of the 4 shows I experienced 3 were of excellent caliber in style, content and execution. Even though I’ve been “off” theatre for the last couple of years, they did pump up my own creative juices. In many ways (with the exception of doing the show “marathon” like I used to) it was like the old pre-Rogue days when I went up on my own.
Here are links to the shows I saw… and you can guess which 3 I really liked.
So, it was a good weekend… not the trip I had originally planned but a good (and much needed) one nevertheless. I did all that I wanted. Met and laughed with some friends. Caught good shows. I ate well. And on my drive back home cobwebs were blown away… and the Blue Devil ferried me there and back safely.
NOTE: The picture of the bike (take a good look at it-seriously) was taken behind the theater-plex and the rest were from the sf fringe site.