We have at least one toaster! I found one in an Annandale junque shop. And I'm off book for scene 1. We're working 1 and 2 tonight, and starting on 4.

posted: 6:12:10 PM  

Leta submits the following correction (slightly paraphrased):

The phrase "frozen chosen" is not to be attributed to A.R. Gurney. Diane Mott Davidson used it in one of her culinary mysteries to describe Episcopalians.

posted: 6:08:56 PM  

We definitely have two nest boxes in use this season, one by a Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)and one that appears to have two species' eggs in it. We were joined by Jim, a birder from Washington state, who is just moved to the area. There's nothing like someone from out of town to turn you into an instant expert—on Eastern specialities like cardinals.

posted: 5:28:16 PM  

Jump/Cut, by Neena Beber, directed by Leigh Silverman, Theater J and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington

This three-person comedy/drama about two old friends, one of them afflicted with bipolar disorder, and the woman who (sort of) comes between them moves along at a snappy clip on some witty dialog. Dave, the appealing couch potato with manic-depressive bouts, has a nifty opening riff on Donald Fagen and the operatic qualities of his whiny singing voice. Another character says, "Maybe I love you because you misunderstand me in exactly the way I want to be misunderstood."

Michael Chernus does good work in Dave's two mad scenes.

But the film metaphors in friend Paul's monologues don't contribute very much. And sometimes Karen's character seems more like a device than a fully realized person.

posted: 5:22:14 PM