The above quote is from a soliloquy in the play I'm about to rave about.
Today, I finished reading the most amazing play I have ever seen or read, "The Clean House" by Sarah Ruhl. It is a real piece of art. The stage directions are incredible (most of them are very poetic, and give a very clear image that an actor can work with very well, but the text would not come out to an audience as it is written, or even close to it). Every single character is all at once someone that you can relate to and mock.
"The Clean House" focuses on a doctor, Lane, and the antics that surround her life over a period of perhaps a week, though the time frame is ambiguous. Over this period, she discovers her husband is cheating on her with one of his patients, the meaning of the word "beshert" along with the proper pronunciation of the Brazilian name "Matilde", and has a woman die of laughter in her home. The entire story is one fiasco after another, but they blend seamlessly into a plot that is somehow very believable.
There is no topping this play. Ruhl's brilliance and eloquence astounds me, and her ability to make normally tragic occurences into comedic ones while still retaining their humanity and the compassion of the reader/viewer is incredible. As I read the script, I could see every single scene perfectly in my head, and now I desperately want to whip up a cast of five and perform this before the school is out. I think it could be loads of fun.
Thing to be grateful for today: Places I do not live that I can call home.
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