November 19, 2004

Went to a play...
This evening, Jenny got tickets for us to go see her college play - Cabaret. It was terrific. The director made a small political statement in the program which carried over into the show. The kids were great, the young man playing the Emcee was very good. I seem to recall the original wove Sally Bowles' story throughout the political situation of Nazi Germany, but this played it down somewhat and focused on the landlady's romance with the older Jewish fruit seller. However, at the end, and since we were sitting 2 feet away from stage left...when they unrolled the Nazi flag banners from ceiling to floor - 4 large ones, mind you...well, something cringed inside me. The swastika brings such an intense emotional response. Fear, anger, fear, uncertainty, certainty (this can never happen again, can it happen again?). Grief for what happened...survivor's guilt - all rolled up in a tiny symbol that for thousands of years before, reversed, was meant to bring GOOD luck. In light of the current political climate in this country, the play was edging into corollary territory. I'll probably be contemplating it for a few days.Its too late this evening to get much done. I need to work on Christmas things and house things and cleaning things. Too many things. We'll see what tomorrow brings.