Below The Fold

Father Patrick Dorn, noted playwright and local theater critic, reviewed Below The Fold: A blog on Stage. Sure, it’s too late for you to see it (until it runs again… somewhere…maybe….), but I figured I’d share the review with you. Click here to read it.

The response from people who have seen this show has been nothing short of humbling.  One thing that has really stood out to me is the absence of the phrase “…for community theater…” In other words, people haven’t been qualifying their responses about this production by setting the bar low (not that “community theater” means the bar should be set low, only that there seems to exist a preconceived notion that unless there’s a lot of money in it, it’s probably not going to be very good.)

My biggest concern about this production was that it would come across as the narcissistic musings of an egomaniac. Sure, there’s probably some measure of truth to that, based on the fact that I would keep some published online journal of my life and thoughts where all who wanted to could read them. In fact, I’d go so far as to say any writer has to have at least a smidgen of overblown self-worth in that he thinks other people really give a damn about what he has to say.

But I really hoped than in our selection of the blog entries we chose to hightlight and the the dialogue in between, we’d key in on enough universal themes that there would be something everyone could relate to within.

I think we accomplished that goal.

I don’t know what happens next, but I do know that I’m immensely proud of what was presented. I’m humbled about the tremendous talent brought to bear by the exceptional cast, I’m humbled by doggedly determined and committed focus my sister brought to the direction of this production, I’m humbled by the willingness of hundreds of people to show up on a weeknigh when they likely have to work tomorrow to spend money amidst a weak economy to support an unknown theater company’s production of an unseen play written by an untested playwright. I’m humbled even more by the fact that by and large, they enjoyed it.