On Being Accosted At The End Of A Play

Alicia de Larrocha told a wonderful story about this situation. Having (reluctantly) accompanied a teaching colleague to a recital by one of the colleague's students (something Miss de Larrocha always avoided when she could), she found herself facing the poor, terrified student backstage. Grasping his hand with a firm but friendly shake, she said, "Your playing has left me speechless!"

You know, I think I solved this quandary.

Whenever I am similarly accosted, I turn to my guest (or commandeer the nearest stranger) and say, "You know, we were just talking about how much we liked your play/performance."

The key words being "how much." ... Because that would also cover, you know, "not at all." Hahaha ...

John

Always an awkward situation, dealing with quote-hungry artists after a show. My generic response is a bit smug, but always true: I have no idea what I really think of the experience until I am at my computer. Lots of times I've loved something and then started writing and discovered I liked it a lot less than I thought I did. The opposite, too. Things I was lukewarm about at the time have a delayed impact.