Boy Howdy Shakespeare in the Afternoon

I totally loved it. Oh...such fun Shakespeare with a tango motif. We went to Calshakes production of Much Ado About Nothing. It was very funny. 'Ado' is one of my favorite plays by the Bearded One and justice was done by the cast. Brun's Amphitheater in Orinda is a great space. Whether you go at night or during the day, as we did this afternoon. Funny thing though. One of the people who went with us did something that I admit, I'm still a little steamed over. Let me go back first. I remember going to see the Minnie Driver flick RETURN TO ME when it was in theaters. Right about the point in the film that David Duchovny starts crying while trying to explain to the dog that his wife is dead, some chick's cellphone rings. Now, that annoyed me, I mean, turn the thing off when going into the movies, but what annoyed me no end was the fact that she took the call! Admittedly, I have a thing about cellphones in public spaces, but really do you need to chat on the phone while in a movie theater? Back to the play, before the show starts, the house manager asks us very nicely to take that opportunity to turn off cell phones and pagers. Well, guess what? Miss My-Life-Is-So-Much-More-Important-Than-Yours' cell rings. And what does she do? Turn off the ringer? No. She answers the phone. During the play. Does she then get up and walk out of the auditorium so as not to disturb the other audience members who payed FORTY DOLLARS A TICKET!? No, there she sits on her denim-clad butt and carries on a conversation for two or three minutes until people shush her. It's just...just...so...disrespectful. Of the performers, the audience, even her friends, who are sitting next to her trying to resist the temptation to pretend they don't know her. Okay, it makes me a little crazy. But then I drove back toward the bridge and San Francisco was blanketed in sunlight and fog, looking for all the world like Brigadoon, Oz, or any other enchanted city you could name, and I felt better. Grabbed a bottle of wine from Trader Joes (Australian Shiraz, tres yummy) and a rock shrimp quesadilla at Pancho's. And settled end to waste the rest of my evening with reckless abandon. You know what they say: All's Well That End's Well. --dB