generous seconds

previously published by me elsewhere:

I was really surprised by how different the experience of watching the performance of "Dog Sees God" behind the camera last night compared to viewing it as a mere audience member tonight. Maybe it has something to do with seeing something multiple times and therefore having another perspective on it that the virginal eyes lack.

My impression of the overall production improved, but there were some specific performance issues that became glaringly more noticeable with the second look. The turnout was far stronger tonight, and they were a much more expressive audience. Unfortunately I was sitting in front of a couple people who were more expressive than I think was warranted. Not only did they share the obligatory laughs and at least one major gasp of any attentive audience member, but with each communal moment it seemed a line of thought was spit out as well:

"Of course!"

"I saw that coming."

"Now I'm turned on!"

"You know they had to do that, right?"

"That SO reminds me of my brother."

"The blow job bit?"

"You know the story don't you?"

"Let me tell you. Okay, how 'bout later?"

There's a line between getting into the complex psychological dialogue between audience and actor, but then there's talking through the fuckin' show. It was quite clear that they wanted someone to hear their Mystery Science Theater morsels, but I was determined to tune them out as much as possible and enjoy the play.

So, I did just that, and found myself far more moved than while filming it. There's a wall that was put up between the performance and myself with the camera as my focus. I don't often get into plays like I do films. They generally lack the right kind of intimacy to really affect me, and it was really thrilling to enjoy some real connection with the piece tonight.