Lights Out Please

Enough already with all the talk about Light in the Piazza at the start of every show at Intiman this year. I’ve been to three shows this season and everyone has started with some reference to Light in the Piazza–most often explaining why Bartlett Sher is absent from what are supposed to be performances followed by conversations with the theater’s artistic director. Sher seems to be absent more often than not of late, dealing with obligations for the touring version of Light in the Piazza.
Make no mistake, I’m pleased for the successes that are happening with Piazza. The play started out in Seattle a couple years ago, had a Broadway run and just now kicked off a touring version. But much like a sports team that’s won a championship, I’d like to see the theater focus on this season. Don’t sell me tickets for conversations with an artistic director who’s too busy to show up for conversations that hold his name.
I’ve never left performances early until the last two I attended at Intiman. Richard III and Heartbreak House were both flat uninspired adventures in tedium. The actors seemed more like they were going through the motions than bringing mainstays of the stage to life.
Shame on the Intiman for putting on such disappointments when they’ve been so much stronger in the past.