"Grounded"

April 30, 2016 — It's a significant achievement when a lone actor can hold an audience's rapt attention for one hundred minutes without an intermission, but that's what theatre KAPOW's Carey Cahoon accomplished in "Grounded" by George Brant at the Derry Opera House in Derry, New Hampshire.

I've seen Carey, winner of the 2014 New Hampshire Theatre Award for Best Actress, in many fine performances, but this was one of her most intense. As a female fighter pilot (unnamed), she loves every aspect of her job, the thrill, the speed, the danger, even her flight suit, and the camaraderie with "my guys." It's what she lives for. But everything changes when she finds herself pregnant. Air Force regulations require she be grounded. After the birth of her daughter, she assumes she will be returned to her former job, but she's assigned to a drone, thousands of miles away, which she will control from a computer console in Las Vegas. Pilots derisively call it the "Chair Force."

On a stage with five video screens as a backdrop, and no other props other than a chair, Carey spills out her anger and frustration for more than an hour and a half over her loss of identity, her twelve-hour seven-day-a-week shifts, and none of the camaraderie she enjoyed as a pilot. With everyone working different shifts, there are no after-hours get-togethers. At the same time, she's devoted to her family. It's a case of a woman balancing job and family on a grand scale.

Directed by Matt Cahoon, with clever integration of video on the five screens by Nicole Porter, lighting design by Tayva Young, music by Nat Word, and Brad Fitzgerald manning the light board, this was a brilliant production all around. The audience was invited to remain after the show for a discussion of what they witnessed, In spite of the one hundred minutes without a break, most of us stayed another twenty minutes while Carey and Matt fielded questions and comments.

The final performance will be this afternoon at 2 p.m. If you miss that, there will be a scaled-back presentation at the Aviation Museum on June 3:

http://www.nhahs.org/

"Tilting Ground"

April 23, 2016 — The Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire, is presenting the national premiere of "Tilting Ground" by Guy Hibbert, one of several premieres on their schedule this season. The three-actor play is directed by Neil Pankhurst. Mr. Hibbert should be pleased with this excellent production of his play.

The play opens with Jack (William Vaughn) arriving at the luxurious seaside home in Escondido, Mexico, his mother, Nancy (Pat Langille) has recently moved into. Nancy hasn't seen Jack, nor had any contact with him, in a year, but she's delighted to see him. Jack's father had passed away, leaving Nancy a widow. Nancy announces she has a surprise, and opens a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Then in walks Charles (Richard Brundage). Nancy announces she and Charles are married.

Charles is mild-mannered and affectionate, in contrast to Nancy's previous husband who was abusive and unloving. Nancy and Charles are deliriously happy together. At first, Jack seems happy to meet Charles, but there's an underlying tension. Jack adored his father, and resentment toward Charles starts to build.

As the play progresses, we learn Jack has squandered every cent of the inheritance his father left him and has done time in prison for assault during his year of absence. His heavy drinking and hostility toward Charles begin to tear apart Charles and Nancy's loving relationship. Still later, we learn Charles has unpleasant secrets of his own. Jack's increasing rage destroys his mother's happy, comfortable new life, and eventually leads to a violent act.

The play reminds us how fragile happiness is, and how easily resentment can destroy it. The performances by all three actors are excellent. This production lives up to the Winnipesaukee Players' long-standing reputation for quality theater. Check out their website for their playlist for the rest of the season:

http://www.winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org/

"Grace and Glorie"

March 19, 2016 — On a cold final day of winter, I was in Meredith, New Hampshire, for another live performance at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. After lunch at Giuseppe's and some time to kill, I went for a stroll along the lakefront. It's been one of the warmest winters on record with no snow to be seen hardly anywhere in the southern third of the state, but on this day, with spring less than twenty-four hours away, the temperature was in the thirties with a bone-chilling wind. In spite of this brief cold snap, ice-out, the day the last of the ice disappears from  Lake Winnipesaukee, was declared yesterday, the earliest that has happened since record-keeping began.

"Grace and Glorie" by Tom Ziegler is being staged by the "Winni." Directed by Timothy L'Ecuyer, the two-woman play is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in the fall. Grace (Barbara Webb) is 90 years old, illiterate, and suffering from terminal cancer. Gloria (Molly Parker Myers), who Grace insists on calling Glorie, is a hospice volunteer assigned to Grace's case.

Gloria is a native of New York City with an MBA and a wealthy lawyer husband. They have relocated to this part of Virginia for reasons that are revealed late in the play. She couldn't be more out of her element or ill-at-ease as she is in Grace's run-down one-room house, realistically imagined by set designer David Towlun, with a water pump and wood stove, a table and a few chairs and a bed in which Grace spends most of her time.

The two women get on each other's nerves as Gloria is frustrated by Grace's refusal to accept her help. Grace is offended by Gloria's New York ways, her helplessness in the antiquated kitchen, her sometimes crude language, and her absence of religious faith. Grace misinterprets Glorie's mission. "You're here to help me die?" she asks incredulously.

The two actresses carry the play beautifully. Funny, poignant, sometimes acrimonious, mostly heartwarming, Grace and Glorie bond with each other in spite of the vast differences in their cultures and attitudes. What they do have in common is their humanity. The sophisticated, educated, sometimes pretentious Gloria has much to learn from the blunt, no-nonsense Grace. In the end, they both need comforting, and find they can provide it for each other. The play was a rewarding experience for the audience.

Book Review

February 24, 2016 — This is my first attempt at a book review, but I was so captivated by this particular book that I felt compelled to write down my impressions of it. The book is Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson.

The fate of the Lusitania is well-known to most of us. The luxurious British ocean liner, world’s largest passenger ship in her day, on a voyage from New York to Liverpool, England, was sunk by a German torpedo off the coast of Ireland in 1915.  Over one thousand lives were lost, more than one hundred of them Americans. But knowing how it ends takes nothing away from the gripping suspense of Larson’s narrative. Thanks to the meticulous record-keeping of American and British authorities, ship’s logs and writings of survivors and witnesses, the book reads like a novel with intimate detail and deep insight into the personalities and mindsets of those involved.

Larson describes events leading up to World War I, introduces us to many of those involved in the drama, from passengers to various American and British officials, and key players such as William Turner, captain of the Lusitania, who remained on the bridge until the ship sank beneath the waves. He survived. There was the highly skilled, determined, ruthless U-boat captain, Walther Schwieger, who was credited with sinking a total of 190,000 tons of shipping, of which the Lusitania comprised about 16 per cent. And of course, President Woodrow Wilson, who kept America out of the war until 1917, while grief over his wife’s death over-shadowed some of the most difficult decisions an American president has had to make.

In many ways, the tragedy was unnecessary. The Lusitania expected an escort by the Royal Navy as it neared Liverpool. It didn’t get one. Schwieger’s U-boat had already sunk three ships and was known to be still patrolling waters in the Lusitania’s path, but this information was never relayed to Captain Turner. Schwieger, low on fuel  and with only three torpedoes left after his patrol of the North Atlantic, was headed for home port when he had his historic meeting with the Lusitania.

Larson’s description of the devastation and terror following the torpedo hit is so vivid it’s gut-wrenching to read. The Lusitania listed so badly and quickly, lifeboats had trouble launching. Some were upended, dumping forty or more passengers into the sea. Others, fully loaded, smashed against the side of the ship, killing some passengers instantly. Many didn’t know how to wear their life jackets correctly and were held head-first under water and drowned. Some were thrown into the water with no life jackets. There were many acts of heroism and sacrifice.

One particularly heart-breaking experience was that of seven-year-old Robert Kay. He had spent most of the trip in quarantine with measles. His mother, in the late stages of pregnancy, tried to carry him to a life boat, holding him close as they were thrown into the sea. They became separated and he never saw his mother again. Someone reported seeing a woman giving birth in the water. The possibility the woman could have been his mother haunted Robert the rest of his life.

It was three hours before rescue ships arrived. Many, floating in their life jackets, died of hypothermia in the 55-degree water. Of the nearly two thousand passengers, less than eight hundred survived. Six hundred were never found. Out of thirty-three infants aboard, six survived.

In the final chapters, Larson follows up with stories of the lives of the survivors in the years following the attack. A tireless researcher and master story-teller, Larson has written a remarkably thorough accounting of one of wartime's great tragedies.

"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"

February 7, 2016 — It was an ambitious undertaking for the Winni Players Community Theatre, but they proved themselves up to the daunting taak in every respect in their performance of the Tennessee Williams classic, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Directed by Susanna Brent at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire, the intense drama held the audience's rapt attention for nearly three hours, including two brief intermissions.

On Big Daddy's 65th birthday, the Mississippi plantation owner's family has gathered to celebrate. Son Brick and his wife, Maggie, his other son Gooper and wife Mae and their five children (a sixth on the way) are all present. The family has lifted a great weight from Big Daddy and his wife, Big Mama, by informing them Big Daddy's exploratory surgery and battery of tests have found no evidence of the cancer they feared. But are they being truthful?

Over the course of one evening, old resentments and bad feelings boil to the surface. Alcoholic Brick, hobbled by a broken ankle, drowns his sorrows over his lost youth, football prowess, and death of a close male friend with whom he may or may not have had a gay relationship. Brick sleeps separately on the sofa, ignoring Maggie's endless tirades against his drinking and neglect. Big Daddy, loud and abusive, takes out his rage on everyone, especially Big Mama who tries unsuccessfully to appease him. Gooper, a successful lawyer, barely hides his contempt for his father and brother. Mae and Maggie engage in catty and sarcastic exchanges.

As he often does, Winni regular Ray Dudley steals the show with his thunderous portrayal of the explosive Big Daddy. You can't help but sympathize with the abused Big Mama as portrayed by Barbara Webb. Jamie M. Clavet is perfectly cast as the sexy, neglected Maggie. David T. Bleiler in many ways has the most challenging role as the heavy-drinking, depressed Brick. Connor D'Heilly and Margaret Lundberg are excellent as Gooper and Mae. Several supporting actors and five delightful children round out the cast in this, one of the best community players groups in New Hampshire, or anywhere else.

Windows 10 Upgrade

January 2, 2016 — A few days ago, after being tempted for several months by the frequent pop-ups from Microsoft urging me to take advantage of their offer of a free Windows 10 upgrade, which assured me my PC was compatible, I decided to upgrade. Rather than take Microsoft's word for compatibility, I proceeded to Google all the apps on my PC I can't live without and determined they were all Windows 10-compatible. The pop-ups offer the options of upgrading immediately or downloading for later upgrade. I chose the download, but was then given the option again of updating immediately or choosing from three dates, the latest three days from the current date, with no other option and seemingly no way to opt out. So having already determined my important programs were compatible, I decided to upgrade immediately.

I was upgrading from Windows 7, the only version ever to run on my 4-year-old HP Touch-Smart desktop PC. I had never installed Windows 8 because of all the bad press it had gotten. The Windows 10 upgrade went smoothly and took about 90 minutes. It's loaded with features, most of which I have no use for and disabled during the upgrade.The familiar Explorer still looks the same, and all my folders and files remained in the same order as before.

I haven't run into any serious problems, but I've encountered a few bugs of the annoying variety, and I just don't like some of the changes to system settings. Screen background doesn't seem to work properly, I can't figure out how to enable sounds for program events, the start menu sometimes fails to open and I have to restart Windows to recover it, and my administrator login has disappeared.

Internet Explorer has been replaced by Internet Edge. I transferred my bookmarks from Firefox, but now when I click on Bookmarks in Edge, it causes Edge to close, so I can't use bookmarks, severely limiting Edge's usefulness. But it doesn't matter. I had planned to stick with Firefox anyway.  All my applications work as before, no problem with internet or email access, and I can network with my Macbook Pro as I always have.

Overall, I can't find much reason to recommend Windows 10. I can't comment on Windows 8 because I've never used it, but if you're running Windows 7 with no problems, I suggest sticking with it. Windows 10 is no improvement over 7, or Vista for that matter, at least for my purposes.

A Warm Christmas

December 25, 2015 — Near the end of a December destined to go down as the warmest on record there was no chance of a white Christmas. No coats needed, not even light jackets, as temperature nudged 70 the day before Christmas, and held in the mid-60s Christmas day.

My Christmas itinerary was the same as it's been the past six years. I observe Christmas with two branches of my extended family in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. This year, a new baby was the center of attention, charming everyone. You can see photos and a video of our activities at this link:

http://www.linwoodstreet.com/christmas15/