"Red Light Winter," yarn

So, yesterday morning I went on a bit of a city adventure, traveling to 82nd Street to check out a yarn store I'd never been to, The Yarn Company. It was a really cute place, with a lot of people sitting around with their children, obviously spending a beautiful Saturday knitting in the company of friends. There was a pretty wide selection of yarns, many of which I'd never seen before, so I was kind of like a kid in a candy store. I ended up getting a variety of variegated yarn called "Jamaica," which is a navy blue, a turqouise, a white/light blue, and a green all interwoven so as to make stripes. I also got a black yarn that's made from a mix of cashmere and merino wool. That's to make a nice, simple scarf. I finished a hat out of the Jamaica yarn today -- it's a bit small, but it fits and is quite attractive. Both of the yarns I got yesterday were difficult to work with, as they unraveled oddly.

Anyway, I also went to Times Square and attempted the lottery for Rent with no luck.

Then later last night, I went to the Barrow Street Theatre just off of 7th Avenue a little below Christopher Street to do student rush for Red Light Winter, a play (not musical) by Adam Rapp, the brother of Anthony Rapp. The buzz surrounding the play was good, and I was in the mood for a serious adult drama, so it was definitely a great night of theatre.

The play, which centers around a love triangle between a prostitute and two of her clients, freshman roomates ten years after college, all of whom become intertwined in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. All of the acting was sensational, but Christopher Denham as Matt (far left in picture) was definitely the most compelling as a self-proclaimed loser who falls in love with the prostitute and is unable to get her out of his mind.

It was one of those plays that leaves you pondering afterwards. I'll probably still be thinking about it for some time, and that's essentially what I usually use as a gauge for the quality of theatre. If it doesn't make you think at all, then it's simply entertainment, and, while there's value in that brand of theatre as well, it's usually not quite as compelling to me personally.

Red Light Winter is definitely highly recommended to anyone looking for a compelling drama centered around the relationships, both personal and sexual, between people. It was sort of like Closer in its tone, following an entanglement of lovers caught in each other's snares. Go see it!