I wanna take you to a place I know, a place called Canada...

I have Olympic fever!!!!
This is nothing new mind you.  I LOVE sports and good backstories so the Olympics are the perfect storm of individuals/teams/countries overcoming hardships and giving it their all!
It's day 10 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics!  It's been so much fun to watch all of these different events!!!  I really wish that they had fallen two weeks ago before TCP rehearsals started up, but at least it's not tech week!  My buddy Austin also has a love for the games, so we've watched a lot of events together which has been awesome.  I can now say that I understand the sport of Curling!  It actually looks like fun!  I like it because it's really for people of all body types and ages.  The every person sport.
I watched an afternoon of events with my friend Laura and her roommate Amanda and that's been one of the highlights of my week!  Amanda gets really, really into sporting events.  Even when she has no idea what's going on, she will cheer loudly and enthusiastically!  It was lots of fun.

Okay. Excuse me as I dust off my soapbox.
Ahem.
Attending a theatrical production while drunk is one of the rudest things a person can do.
Last night I went to see The Grapes of Wrath which was co-produced by TheatreVCU and a local professional theatre.  The performance took place at their space, and tickets were the same price as any other of their productions ($40), and the cast was a combination of Equity actors and students.   I went with Kelsey and was really excited to see this production.  It's directed by one of my favorite directors of all time, includes the acting talent of several friends and associates, and I love the novel and script adaption.
About five minutes into the show an usher brings in two men and in a very loud and obtrusive manner and seats them next to Kelsey (the usher actually told them they could sit anywhere in our row, thankfully they just took the two empty seats at the end rather than climb over 10 people to get to the other available seats) and they get settled in.  The person next to Kelsey was an acquaintance of ours.  He graduated from VCU last spring with a BA in theatre and was there with a friend.  During the first act they may have giggled at a few inappropriate moments, but overall were pretty low key, just slightly obnoxious.  As the lights came up for intermission they were laughing and asking us if they were being too loud because they were drunk.  They then promptly went to the lobby where they got more to drink.
Now, I get having a drink with your preshow dinner.  That's cool.  What I do not understand is why someone would get drunk, drive drunk to a theatre, and see a show where you have shelled out 40 bucks that includes some of your friends where you're being disrespectful.
Being in college theatre right now I have had several experiences with drunk students in the audience, especially on department opening nights (TheatreVCU has radically cut down on this, thank goodness) but it just confounds me when people who are in theatre are so rude at a performance!  Being "in" does not make you exempt to the standards of audiences.  It does not make it so people cannot see you texting, talking, being rude, late or taking part in any other type of idiotic conduct, in fact I think you should be held at a higher standard.  You need to set an example for your fellow audience members.  If you don't agree with that, okay, but at least go by the bare minimum standards of decency.
Honestly, if you're going to be a jerk at a show, just keep your money and go buy some more drinks.

Okay.  Buh bye soapbox.

Oh, and by the way I LOVED Grapes!!!!  It was moving and beautifully staged.  I love straight plays with ensemble acting!!!!   There were so many moments where I was completely engrossed in the action.  I didn't care for some of the stylized movement moments with the fight choreography, but I could appreciate the concept.

Well there is some women's curling to be watched!
~Marley