At the second interval (our two smash-and-grab plays went up first), I was sitting with Leta's friend Les, trying to make conversation while Leta ran off to do something. (Les is even more reserved than I am.)
We had found that popular common ground of men, Mechanical Things That Are Broken. I was kvetching about Alberta, who, not one week out of the shop for periodic maintenance, was overheating; Les told me about the flat tire (blown out valve) he got on his bike ride.
An audience member approached me. At first I thought he was going to tell me I was sitting in his seat. He was about 60 years old.
And then he asked me, What relationship are you to the group of people over there?, and he indicated the house right side of the short section. I said, Well, Michael, the producer of the festival was sitting over there, and Lisa, one of the playwrights. And he said, Well, I just wanted to say that I found their behavior very distracting during the first show.
I said, Michael does tend to lead the laughter.
And I wasn't sure what he's getting at. These were two little
offbeat
comedies, and frankly Michael is a big help to all of us, letting people know where the funny bits are. But this guy was carrying on as if critical exposition was being missed while Michael and Lisa and Sally were chortling away.
I said (really!), "I'm sorry."
And he said, "All I'm saying is, if those people are your friends, you don't need friends like that." And I said, "Okay," and turned to face Les.
Sometimes I think I need to be more polite to people.
