A Short Review of "A True Apology"

We are half-way through the run of Pear Slices 2009, and we received our first formal review (and maybe only one). It was a decent one, that focussed on the acting. This is, of course, annoying since Pear Slices is all about "new works" and critiques should be about the writing, but this is not surprising. As difficult as it is to write new works, it's also difficult to review new works in a limited space unless maybe you're a very experienced theatre person/critic.



My part of Kevin Kirby's Palo Alto Weekly review of Pear Slices 2009:

"...In Richard Medugno’s 'A True Apology,' however, [Helena] Clarkson shines. Her long-suffering character is called upon to mediate a dispute between her blind mother (played by feisty Lindi Press) and her deaf brother (believably portrayed by playwright Medugno), after the son runs over the mother’s seeing-eye dog. Insisting that she is only a neutral interpreter between family members whose disabilities leave them unable to communicate with one another directly, she nonetheless gets caught up in both parties’ frustration and anger, until she is seemingly locked in a half-spoken, half-signed argument with herself..."

Kirby did talk about the quality of the new work as a whole, summing up the night in the last paragraph of his review: "...the majority of this year’s 'slices' from the PearPlaywrights Guild feel decidedly safe." I feel "A True Apology" was in the minority then, because it was a far from a safe piece. It was a huge challenge. It could have easily fallen flat without the proper execution.

I hope "A True Apology" has a life after Pear Slices 2009, so I can maybe see a production without being in it and get more reviews in print. The real critics I'm waiting to hear from for this production are my kids, who are planning to see the show on Sunday.

Miranda Time, Day 2

Today Miranda and I ventured to north of the San Francisco Bay. First stop, an hour and half after gassing up in Fremont was Santa Rosa. We had a really good lunch in an Omlette place in the "historic old downtown" section.

While eating I asked my daughter about going away to college in August. I started with first, how many trips would she be making home. She said two. One trip home in October for the California School for the Deaf's 150 Anniversary and one more trip back at Christmas time. When I asked about spring break, she finger-spelled what I thought was "Puerto Rico." With that lovely combination of exasperation and infinite patience, she re-finger-spelled "Costa Rica." I registered some surprise. "Hmm," I thought, "I wonder where she's going to get the money for that." Yes, this was the thought before, "I don't want my baby girl going to Central America for spring break!"

Later, I asked Miranda about her friends going to Gallaudet. It turns out her long time friend, Shea, whom she's known since before kindergarten is going to be her roommate in Washington, DC. I don't know why I find this comforting, other than Shea's is a great kid, who I've seen grown up with my girl.

After lunch, Miranda and I visited the Charles M. Schulz museum and got our fill of "Peanuts" and the gang. It's a cute little place. Miranda admired the cartoonist's high school report card - all A's and B's - that was in encased in a display about Mr. Schulz's youth. After the museum, we moved next door to the ice rink, but I couldn't talk my girl into lacing up any skates. Some Canadian girl! We continued on to the Snoopy gift shop, as if we hadn't seen enough of Charlie Brown stuff.

We were both ready to leave Santa Rosa at 2pm and less than an hour later we were on the coast at Bodega Bay, famous for where Hitchcock filmed "The Birds." (I should Miranda this film a few months back and she laughed heartily when birds were pecking away at the top of a fleeing school boy. I admit it, I laughed too. Though I remember watching this same film 40 years earlier and being quite shook up.) It was a windy day, so we didn't stay too long in Bodega Bay and there wasn't a lot to do other than admire the view.

We headed home and got back to Fremont about 6 pm after battling 880 rush hour traffic going south. During one of those bumper-to-bumper times, I talked to Miranda a little more about college. I asked her what she expected to happen in college. She just shrugged. I advised her that it was going to be hard. She nodded. I said there's going to be a lot of pressure from peers to party. She said she knew but didn't want to discuss it anymore.

Miranda Time

It's spring break for students at the California School for the Deaf and I'm currently between jobs, so today and tomorrow I'm spending "quality time" with my Miranda. We had planned to go to Santa Rosa to the Charles Schulz Museum and then out to Bodega Bay (where "The Birds" was filmed), but I learned that the "Peanuts" museum is actually closed today and it was much too windy to enjoy a day on the coast.

So we changed our plans and decided to lunch in Fremont at The Elephant Bra...my dyslexic attempt at humor...(Are you now picturing a pachyderm with a Playtex cross-your-heart braissere or just the image of a huge bra?) Miranda and I were seated in the exact same booth Terence and I sat at the last time I went to this restaurant.

The waitress was a sweetheart and used some basic signs with Miranda when she ordered a salad with chicken. We find this in Fremont often. Service people are used to dealing with the Deaf Community. Unfortunately, half-way through her salad Miranda discovered a dark black hair in it and showed the server. She immediately offered to get Miranda something else or take it off the bill. Miranda asked for sweet potato fries, which were promptly served. The chicken salad was taken off the bill and the sweet potato fries weren't added on. When I asked the waitress to add the fries on, she said, "No, it's okay with my manager." So our bill for lunch came to $7.95 as I was only charged for my patty melt.

As we walked to the car, I thanked Miranda for the cheap lunch. She laughed. Then we drove to San Jose to visit with my friend John and to see his two 18-month-old twins. Miranda fell asleep in the car and confessed she wasn't feeling well when we arrived. She stayed in the car for an hour while I visited.

Next stop was Santana Row, a upscale shopping destination that Miranda had never been to and I thought she'd like to window shop at. Revived from her nap, she thought it was cool and said it reminded her of Sweden. We spent an hour there, with our final stop at Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream. As we ate, I asked my daughter if she remembered visiting the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont when she was young. She did not recall it, beyond watching our family movies of it. She reminded me that she was only two or three years old at the time. Was that really 15 years ago? Ugh.

We came home and Miranda spent most of the evening in old room reading...and though there wasn't a lot of interaction, I liked having her around. You forget how much you miss somebody, I think, because it makes it easier to live on...But when they come back, even for one night it reminds you of the way it used to be... In 4 months, she will be officially an adult and off to Gallaudet University on the other side of the continent. In the words of Charlie Brown, "Good grief!" Looking forward to another day with my girl tomorrow.