Okay, so it wasn’t really a full month of Annie Baker, but two of the handful of shows my husband and I went to during August were hers. Which is a pretty high percentage for any playwright, besides Shakespeare. We saw both THE FLICK at Barrow Street Theatre and JOHN at Signature. I had previously read THE FLICK, but JOHN was brand new to me. And there is something about that, isn’t there? Sitting in a dark theatre anticipating what may happen based on the cast and what you know of the playwright and the director, and then you are whisked away into a finely tuned world. Ms. Baker and Mr. Gold (director of both shows) are pretty fantastic at creating theatrical first few moments, the lighting effect in THE FLICK and how the curtain was drawn in JOHN both had me intrigued and kept that moment of anticipation alive. Ms. Baker is a very keen observer of details, she draws very clear people in part by giving them very specific habits or turns of phrase. It is fun sitting there with a bunch of strangers taking in this creative work that has been in development for years, that has been written and re-written and then rehearsed and rehearsed some more. What a privilege to witness, to be part of something so rich and immediate. Whatever you think about the play in the end, you will always have those first few moments of anticipation before the curtain rises, the lights come on…What will happen next?
