The close-knittedness of the Bay Area performing arts community (and indeed of any community worth its salt) is a constant source of delight and fascination to me.
Yesterday evening, while at the inaugural festivities for Z Space Theatre Company‘s new home at Theatre Artaud in San Francisco, I was reminded of the oddball pleasures of community when I joined a cluster of local theatre people mid-conversation. We were a group of four, myself included. I knew two of the people in our little group and the other person was a stranger to me, though he looked familiar. (Most theatre people look familiar to me around here — I’ve probably seen them on stage at some point over the last ten years but often can’t quite place their faces.)
Anyway, the first thing I heard when I joined the cluster was the guy whom I didn’t know, say: “Did you read Chloe Veltman’s review of August: Osage County? You should have seen the subheadline — ‘So what if August: Osage county won a Tony? It’s still boring and bloated.’ Hilarious. I thought…” Before he could get any further, the friend who was standing to my right jumped in with one of the most overenthusiastic introductions I’ve ever witnessed: “M—, This is Chloe Veltman!” We shook hands. M and I both turned scarlet. Everyone laughed. It was a great night.