http://www.beetnik.com/
While we were there, we were able to catch the local theater group The Balagula doing Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
Fahrenheit is probably my all time favorite book. I could go on and on about. If you have never read it before, go read it. Seriously, do it now.
The book came out in 1953 and, reading the book now, Bradbury comes off as a prophet. Huge TV sets with people obsessively watching them is the norm in his projected story of the future.
And there is the banning and burning of books. Sure, it has been a while since I saw an actual book burn, but they are figuratively being burned at an alarming rate.
I still love hunting down a rare or signed copy of a favorite book. I think the excitement of reading a copy of a book older than I am adds to the experience.
A book has a life of its own. It is printed and then distributed. Someone reads it, then it lingers on a shelf, sometimes for years, maybe even decades or more. I like picking up old used books and reading them again, bringing their purpose back.
A lot of friends have the trendy new e-readers. I guess I am for anything that promotes reading, but this is not a book.
I remember talking to a friend, Sam, in college about music, and about how I love having a CD or an album. I love holding the cover, reading the credits and notes, and admiring the cover art in my hand. I thought I would never convert to a system where you would download the music, never actually owning the album. I argued that people will always want the physical object that contains the music. People will always want to hold a copy of the album that they listen to. Sam argued that there would be a day that people would get their music from the internet, and that they would be happy to not have to deal with the actual relic.
Times change. I still love going to see live music at small venues- and buying a CD from the performer to support them, and for my own enjoyment later.
I still love finding the occasional rare CD but my friend Sam in college over a decade ago was right. The day has come- and people (myself included) enjoy downloading songs quickly and easily from the internet.
Books are going in the same direction. Not burned, but not physically needed.
Ok, enough about that. I love books, and I especially love this one by Bradbury.
The Balagula Theatre did a great interpretation of this one. It is hard to act out a great sci-fi novel like Fahernheit, but this group nailed it.
They used white curtains in the background, sometimes with images projected on them, to show the 3 walled TV room from the book. The chaos of the slightly blurred images added to the dark feel of the story. I especially appreciated Balagula's use of footage from the Ray Combs era of the Family Feud.
Like a good sci-fi novel, the production forced you to use your imagination as the same stage was used for the firehouse, Montag's home, the park, etc. Also, the mechanical hound is imagined.
Probably 3 of my all time favorite characters in literature (Guy Montag, Clarisse, and Beatty) are in this book, and Balagula did a great job of casting them all.
Anyway, these guys do performances at Natasha's frequently, and I look forward to seeing more of their work!
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