Benjamin Barlow

This last weekend, I took a trip to UW-P to see Dr. Farrelly’s production of the Pulitzer Prize winning ‘Night Mother. It was considerably different to the shows I remember performing while at UW-P. Our shows were never really “real” in sense that they weren’t set in today’s world as we know it. There is no way around ‘Night Mother than to get real.

I have to give some props to the two gal cast. They did a simply outstanding job performing the hell out of a tortuous piece. There were a few inconsistencies, but nothing that detracted from a superb performance.

Other than that, Safe Bridge has my resume out on a position that sounds right up my alley. I believe the Job Title is Health Insurance Analysis Analyst, even with the redundant “Analys…”

I bought Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury to do a little background research on the Sure Thing one act I will be acting in and haven’t been able to find the reason why it was included. You would think that David Ive’s had a reason for using that book for his one act. What is it? I’ve sparknoted it and can say I am comfortable with the themes and plot to make some educated guesses, but none of them are very satisfying. Why The Sound and the Fury? Why not a different book? Sure Thing is unique in it’s many “second chances” that the characters get with many comedic moments. I look at Sure Thing as a light hearted reflection on how easy it is too screw something up and hard it is to get something right on the first try. It takes soooo many “first meetings” in order to get a few right, and those become friends, girlfriends, mentors, etc. On a side note, this is one of the reasons I get pretty cynical about relationships (friendly and otherwise).

My best educated guess for Faulkner’s inclusion is a tie in on Faulkner’s stream of consciousness with four points of views. You have the three Compsons and then Dilsey’s narrating four different chapters in Faulkner’s famous stream of consciousness. David Ive’s could use this as a metaphor on our “first meeting” conversations and how they often follow one thing to the next in this stream of related experiences and knowledge, just like The Sound and the Fury. It does seem silly though to include such a depressing book in a light hearted one act… unless Sure Thing is supposed to be depressing… can’t be.

Either way, I’m reading The Sound and the Fury! I got it yesterday on State St. and already am 30 pages in. Wish me luck… it’s been more than a year since I’ve read a full length novel.