Last Friday, Mer and I went to the annual CVCA Choir Spaghetti Dinner fund raiser. Every year, the choir raises funds by serving a simple but good pasta supper, and the various choral groups perform, rotating in every half hour or so. This year, soloists performed until 5:30, and then the groups took over. We got there about 5:00, ate, and then cleared out of the table area to allow for more people to sit and eat. There were chairs set up in front of the performing area, so Mer and I moved to those. We got to see two choirs sing, but we had to leave at about 6:15 or so because I was taking Mer on a date.

There was one little hitch, though. In the late afternoon, a storm moved in. This was the back side of the storm that dumped all over the east coast, and I was worried we would have trouble driving in it. I decided that if the roads were too bad, we would turn around. We headed off south, heading to Canton, which is normally a 35-40-minute drive. I had allotted about an hour to get there. Through Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, there was snow on the roads, but it was manageable. I decided to press on. Once south of Akron, in the part of the interstate that the state takes care of, the roads got quite a bit worse, and visibility was poor at times. It was a bit tense, but we made it to the Canton exit and got off, only to discover that the main roads were not plowed. We actually looked as if we were going to slide into an intersection at a red light. I honked and got other people’s attention, but happily we stopped just at the edge of the intersection.

We did make it to the Canton Cultural Center, where the Canton Players Guild performs. It was not clear where we should park, so I parked in a handicapped space and left Mer in the car so I could go to the box office to see what we should do. While I was on my way to the door, a van pulled into the parking lot, and a woman rolled down a window and yelled at me for parking in a handicapped spot. I explained that Mer was in the car and went inside. I was a bit miffed that she would yell at me, but I also admired that she would call me out on parking in a handicapped spot. That is, until I came out and saw that the van had moved to the drive of a pay-for parking lot. It would seem the concern of the woman was that she wanted her $5. Happily, I got in the car and pulled across the street and parked there for free.

We were at the Cultural Center to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams. Neither Mer nor I knew anything about the play at all, except that Williams wrote it and he is well respected. It was a very rare “pure viewing” for both of us.

The stage was set up very simply with a bed, a couple of door frames, two couches, and a small make-up table. The entire (what turned out to be) three-hour play took place in this one bedroom. The set worked well – it was functional without distracting from the characters who were jaw-droppingly intense.

What a magnificent play and a great production of it. I told Mer at one point that Williams stomps on the gas pedal and never lets up. The play focuses on one very dysfunctional family, especially a husband/wife team where the husband loathes his wife, but she loves him deeply. Why this is the case takes up most of the first two acts (out of three). The reasoning is slowly and masterfully revealed. The husband/wife plot takes place in the bigger plot where the father, Big Daddy, is trying to find out what is going on with his favorite son, while rejoicing that he has been told he is cancer free. Big Daddy is rich, and a major issue is how he will eventually leave his wealth. Big Daddy despises his wife and has no respect for the less-loved older son and his wife, and they only want Big Daddy’s money. The entire family is very screwed up.

The characters of the play are all people who should not be emulated – they are selfish and destructive. Still, the play was extremely captivating. It ended up being three hours long (including intermissions), but never dragged. I was blown away by the play. It was fantastic, and is among the best theater I have seen in a long time.

Part of this was carried by the three main characters. Canton Players Guild is a community theater, and so you might expect good amateur theater. The three main characters – the husband, his wife, and the father – were all amazing. The father was black and the son was white, but the father was so good, you forgot the improbability of that casting (in the 1950s South). Within just a few minutes, the father ceased being a black father of a white child, and simply became Big Daddy, trying to forcefully draw out his son and to understand his son’s sudden alcoholism. The wife carries the entire first act, almost making it a monologue (her husband does not want to talk to her). All three were just amazing. What a cast.

As an added bonus, the first Friday of a month (like last Friday) is “Chocolate Dream Friday,” where chocolates are served during the intermissions. Nice, indeed.

After a marvelous theater time, Mer and I came out to a winter wonderland. It had continued to snow pretty heavily, and was still snowing. I figured we would be okay since it was 11:00, but I was wrong. For a sloppy late night, there turned out to be a lot of people on the roads. Go figure. The major highway home had not been plowed, and there were no more lanes – you just followed the car in front of you and muttered at the aggressive drivers who passed you in the “lane” next to you. It was a very tense hour to get home, and we slid slightly once, causing my heart to jump, but with much prayer and taking it slowly, we got home a little after midnight. I was very relieved to get home safely (with much thanksgiving to God). I’m glad I did not know how bad the roads were going to get, or we would not have gone to the play. That would have been a shame, because it was really well done. Bravo (and lots of snow)!