Madness

I went to see a musical production of Reefer Madness with one of the coolest girls ever.  It was tons of fun and at times made me think that maybe I should start working on a pot habit.  At least a brownie habit.  Jesus made an appearance with Tom Jones style quipping and a golden microphone.  That sealed the deal for me.

I keep going back to a nagging thought, though, about the relationship that a play has with its audience.  SC is a ridiculously conservative state.  I've been here for a year and a half and still have a lot to learn about social protocol, but some topics--mostly in the sex, drugs, and rock & roll vein--are clearly only for the speakeasy.  So, it was strange to be watching a play about sex, drugs, and rock & roll among people who were clearly a little squeamish about it.  Maybe I was a little surprised that nobody fainted or started speaking in tongues.

It made me think of the time I groaned loudly during a play at an especially quiet part just after a really bad line delivery.  (accidental)  And that made me think of visiting an awesome gospel church in North Carolina. (Amen) And also when a friend was ejected from a theatre for holding his chest during a really bad show and yelling "hep me, hep me" a la Blazing Saddles.  (totally on purpose)  Really, shouldn't the audience be engaged with the cast and vice-versa?  OK, maybe not so much, but a little?  

It was good to see such a fun play.  It might have been interesting if the Madness had really taken hold of the audience, though...