Eat Drink Theater

When Roz Russell as Auntie Mame delivered those immortal lines "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death" she might have been referring to today's theater scene. There's so much out there, so much to sit down to, so where is everybody? Parked in front of their TV sets, hanging with friends, talking baseball (or football, or hockey, or whatever sport), chilling, yakking, and texting. Well, if they're slow to get to the table there will be more for the rest of us. And what a bounty it is!

To begin the new season, the table looks full to brimming with treats. On the menu are Harold Pinter's Moonlight (Studio), an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (Roundhouse) and Tracey Letts' August: Osage County (Kennedy Center). I was half-asleep with jetlag when I nodded through my last Moonlight with the great Ian Holm (Sorry Sir Ian), but I'm hoping to grasp the play for the first time with Ted van Griethuysen in the principal role. Dorian Gray has been updated by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and reset in the London world of the 1980s; it promises a new look on a Faustian bargain, one that trades for eternal looks over brains. I passed on Osage County when it was in Chicago - the 3 ½ hour runtime scared me off - but I'll opt for a matinee of the Tony Award winner when it comes to town. And these are just the openers!

If not exactly a free education, theater is still a pretty good deal in exposing you quickly to the classics and reimagining, if not reinventing, history. Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theater will be performing adaptations of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, a cause for celebration and a re-reading of these masterpieces, while The Rep Stage will be offering David Davalos's Wittenberg, with a cast of characters including Dr. Faustus, Hamlet, and Martin Luther, along with various manifestations of the Eternal Feminine. Now that's a slice of life!

Whether you sample the fare locally or out-of-town, there's such abundance out there that you may have trouble choosing. I approach theater as I would a reader and collector. I often select a play when I feel there's a need - emotional, intellectual - and to fill in or complete the gaps in my personal collection of theater experiences. Like a book that sits on your shelf unread (but waiting for the right moment), there are few things as satisfying as a drama deferred! Unlike books, however, which multiply in staggering proportions daily (including the unread ones), completion of a theater repertoire - by a single writer, a period or genre, or even the entire history - is a doable project. You really can see all of Shakespeare and Shaw or even Stoppard and Simon, not to mention surveying the entire western theatrical canon.

You know what they say about a journey: half the pleasure is in the anticipation; well, theatergoing, if approached the right way, is nothing less than a journey, a never-ending quest to fill in and expand on the various dramatic possibilities. Coming to the area, at the Olney, in what seems only once in a decade, is Emlyn Williams' Night Must Fall, that psychological thriller of the 30s. It's a rare chance to see this noire classic I don't want to miss.

While I like to plan, theater is also a delight when it happens by chance. The serendipitous and accidental play-going experience opens up a writer and world that I never knew existed. When there's an opportunity to see a different or new play, at a pay-what-you can venue or half-price ticket event, just go, the odds are in your favor. Don't wait for the review: most of them will be worthless for your purposes (mine included!) and don't wait until the end of a run. The excitement of a live performance is never as palpable as it is at the beginning, when the actors are still finding their way into their roles and the critics haven't yet arrived. No chance either that they will be walking through their lines or the show will have drifted.

Check out the local theater scene on business trips or travels. I've stumbled on some great shows as a consequence. There are outstanding repertory companies all over the country and many top notch shows in resort areas (actors like to work and play too!) Even in Maine, when I got tired of looking at water and rocks, I found a fun production of Angel Street in Acadia National Park of all places.

Even the ones that got away - either they were sold-out or had just left town or not yet arrived - have a way of staying with you. Next time that show or performer comes around you'll be doubly motivated to see them.

Think of theatergoing as a scavenger hunt: by looking up different venues - close to or far from home - you'll be mapping out areas in much greater detail, with all the accompanying entertainment, cultural sites, and yes, dining sites surrounding them. Happy hunting and Bon appétit!