An Arty Weekend

I'm feeling all hip and arty this weekend. Last night I went so see Shara Worden a.k.a. My Brightest Diamond at the Drake Hotel. She's a friend of a friend which almost makes me cool. I'd had brunch with Shara but had never heard her perform live. I really enjoyed it (ipod updating in progress). She put on a great show and had the audience laughing and nodding along, there was even a little bit of dancing (goodness!). Of course it was even more fun to watch my friend France watch the show. I got the occasional tidbit about the songs and set list.

This afternoon I went to the Tarragon Theatre to see Hannah Moscovitch's East of Berlin. I thought it was very good with a couple of caveats. Early on she describes one of the characters, Hermann, as someone who is worldly and as someone of whom his schoolmates are in awe. The chap portraying Hermann didn't seem worldly to me. He seemed shy and hesitant. The actor brought an interesting character but he just didn't jive with the earlier description. I also felt that the ending was a complete cop out. Perhaps I was the only one who found the ending dissatisfying; other theatre goers seemed impressed. To me it seemed as though the author couldn't figure a way out of the dilemma she'd written and chose the quickest solution. I'd definitely recommend seeing it, the actors do a good job and the staging is very clever. The objects arranged on the set increased in meaning as the play progressed (very interesting).

A brief synopsis (with some plot spoilers!!! WARNING):

Rudi grows up in Paraguay knowing that his German parents had been somehow involved in the war. His friend Heinrich tells him about the concentration camps and his father's involvement in gruesome experiments as a camp doctor. Rudi attempts to atone for the sins of his father in a number of self destructive and life affirming ways. In the end he can't reconcile the love he has for his father and the guilt he feels for loving a monster.