Encore, CSF

I think a lot of people have been holding their collective breath to see how things would turn out with the Laureate takeover of the College of Santa Fe. I know I have been. And so I jumped at the chance to get tickets to the first official play in the Greer Garson Theatre (not the little Weckesser theatre, but the big red velvety one) since the takeover. Back when I was a student at CSF, I had to go to one of the plays for my Western Culture class. I didn’t want to go, my date backed out, and my car broke down at the gas station on the way. But once I got there, I fell in love with the whole experience – the acting, a friend in the cast, the red velvet seats, the cozy cavelike feeling of the theatre, a gripping play keeping me on the edge of my seat. For the subsequent seventeen years, I have caught as many of the plays as I’ve been able, even when I lived outside of New Mexico for a few years, on frequent trips back home. I’ve rarely been disappointed in the talent, the caliber, the entire experience. And I wept copiously after going to see Sweet Charity, the final play last year, when we thought the College was finished for good.

I was nervous that things would have changed, and that it wouldn’t be the same fantastic experience I had taken for granted. When I arrived, the audience was small, and the theatre had been curtained in half to make it smaller. But I settled into my seat with hope in my heart, and I was not disappointed. I’m pleased to report that the play I saw on Sunday, Boys’ Life, carried me away. It was well-acted and thought-provoking, the characters were engaging and infuriating, the set design was clever, and I really enjoyed the whole thing immensely.

Whatever the rest of the story is with the “new” College of Santa Fe, I’m thrilled that the theatre department is still persevering, and I’m already making plans to catch the student-directed production in February. I’ll be the one in the front, bouncing up and down on my red velvet seat.

by AA @Main