"The Guys," etc.

Yesterday was my first day working at the Roundabout for their entire work day (from 10 AM to 8 PM). I like this job a lot better than my last one (as far as the job itself is concerned), because more often than not there's something useful to do, whereas I thought I was slightly wasted at The American College, which was fine for my wallet but left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

I had dinner with Emma after work, which, as anything involving Emma always is, was wonderful. We went to Moon House, where I'd previously gone with Jon & crew. I'm in love with the broccoli there as served with their amazing sauce (is it soy? is it teriyaki?).

Then after dinner I hung out with Austin for a while, and we checked out the very wonderful Yaffa Cafe on 8th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. The place had me at hello, and I really want to go back early enough to be able to sit out on the back patio.

Today, I got tickets for Emma and I to see Wrecks, a new one-man play written and directed by Neil LaBute and starring Ed Harris. After that, I went shopping for a bit with Austin and was viciously tempted by a wonderful (and rather expensive) Marc Jacobs leather jacket that touched my soul at a special place.

Then I went to see The Guys at the Flea Theatre downtown on White Street off of Broadway (just slightly below Canal Street). One of the perks of working at the Roundabout Theatre Company is that there are relatively frequent opportunities to see free theatre if you sign up on a list in the mail room, so I got the ticket that way. The play was about a female journalist and a male fire chief after September 11, 2001, and her attempt to help him write the eulogies of men in his company who had been lost that day. It was done in reading form, the actors with scripts in front of them, but they seemed not to rely on them heavily, and, to some extent, the use of the book was worked into the proceedings. I thought that, for the most part, the play was just so-so. It's not particularly well thought out, but it's more poignant when you look at it from the perspective of its origins.

Shortly after 9/11 the Flea Theatre saw financial and artistic ruin as the downtown area faced the devastation of 9/11. The theatre commissioned the play, and it was a big success. The play is a frank reaction to that time rather than something with the perspective of history, but it ultimately works, especially since the play is presented in that context, as a commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the attacks.