A cool (yet not) New York-y experience

Last weekend, a co-worker gave me two tickets he couldn't use to see a new play done in a cool way - in a hotel room!  I'm trying to remember the last site-specific show I've seen...and I can't remember one.  That can't be right.  Anyway, it was a fun adventure and I was happy to spend the day with a very handsome friend.  I haven't seen any press about this particular show online anywhere.  I was looking at my program and it doesn't say not to talk about the show online, but I feel a little awkward.  I think I'll focus on the experience rather than the specifics, if you don't mind.  Of course, you're all really smart, so you'll put the clues together, but still...

My friend and I met at le Parker Meridien hotel a little early, so we could figure out where to go and what to do.  The confirmation sheet I had was a little vague.  We went into the STUNNING bar in the hotel, The Knave, and asked the bartender if he knew what was happening.  He didn't, but he went to ask the concierge for us; when he came back, he told us to have a seat and someone would come find us at show time.  OK.  That sounds easy.  My very handsome friend and I decided to sit in that gorgeous bar and enjoy a drink before the show.  He got a Negroni and I got an iced tea, having decided that a cocktail before a show in a hotel room might not be a good idea and perhaps a beverage with caffeine WOULD be a good idea.  Both drinks were delicious.  And pricey.  I'd love to go back to The Knave, but I'll have to save up a little more money first.

A gentleman did indeed walk into the bar, carrying a clipboard with the play's title on it.  He asked everyone sitting in the bar area for their name, to confirm they were on the guest list, then said he'd be back in about ten minutes and we should all meet in the lobby.  OK.  Another friend of mine just happened to come into the bar at the same time, so we gabbed for a few minutes, then went out into the lobby for our next move.  After waiting, and worrying we'd missed him, after a few minutes our gent arrived and led us to the small hallway and elevators.  Since each showing of the play seats 20 people only, it took three elevator loads to get everyone upstairs.  We were led into the hotel room and told to sit in the gold chairs.  The hotel room was nice, with a little sitting area on the other side of the bed area, which made for more playing room for the actors.

When we walked in, the shower was running, so we figured one of the actors was in the bathroom to make their entrance.  Which he was.  But before he came into the room, there was a knock at the hotel room door and a woman entered the room.  She wandered around, furtively looking at things in the room, before the man came in from the bathroom.  He is shocked to see this woman from his past in the room; he wasn't expecting her.  And so the play begins.

The play is about 80 minutes of very high drama, with ups and downs, twists and turns, some of them well-done and some of them at the expense of the truth of the piece.  The acting was fantastic, very raw and real.  How the performers kept going with the audience so close to them, I don't know.  For me, it was fascinating to be so close to the action; it heightened all of the emotions and made everything so much more immediate to be on such intimate terms with the actors and their movements through the room. 

I will say, however, that I was completely swept up in the emotion of the piece and maybe not the piece itself.  Though I in no way experienced the horror that the girl in this play experienced, I did have an encounter when I was young that shattered my trust, took away my choices (at least in my mind), and made me question myself for years after.  In fact, I still question myself - my culpability, my share in the responsibility, my inability to move forward in certain ways.  I'm still affected, even 30-some years later.  So, for me, being trapped in that hotel room with a figure who, to me, represented my loss of power and innocence, was very overwhelming.  Suffocating.  I was upset and depressed for most the night after seeing the play.  My handsome friend did not have that experience - he enjoyed being so close to the action, but didn't buy into the writing or the story.  Totally valid.  Two totally different reactions, which is almost always to be expected, but maybe on not such a wide scale.  I don't think he noticed that I wasn't very interested in talking about the play afterwards - I encouraged us to go out for dinner to talk about other things.  Thankfully, we did, and afterwards I took a long walk, called a couple friends, and tried to remind myself who I've become after working really hard to get here.  Then I went home and brooded on my own.  I almost didn't write about seeing this play, but I thought I could get it out of my head if I put things on paper, as it were.

So, I can't even say if it was a good play or not.  It had theatrical moments, to be sure - there was a surprise actor entrance that made the 20 of us gasp; there was a flashback scene on the bed that was so ugly, you had to look away.  There were drinks tossed in people's faces, potential weapons brandished then put away.  I don't know.  For someone who couldn't relate or understand this girl's anger, maybe it wasn't so successful.  For someone who COULD relate, like me, maybe it still wasn't successful as a play.  But as an emotional experience that again caused me to think and re-evaluate my past, present and future, it worked incredibly well.  I think I'm glad(ish) that I saw it - it was a rather cool experience and I did get to spend the afternoon with someone I don't see nearly enough of.  Perhaps if I focus on the positive and move on, I can take some of the play's lessons with me.  Or not.  I don't think the male character in the play learned all that much, and there was certainly no redemption for him.  Maybe I can take comfort in that...