A Tourist in My Own Town

I've never done the sight-seeing with the 'rents thing before, but it's kinda fun. A total excuse to spend 3 days in a row checking out all of the great cultural things DC has to offer. And you know me, I love to write reviews. So highlights of today include:

My first-ever trip to the Smithsonian Museum of African Art. It's one of the smaller museums, sort of tucked away in those gorgeous gardens behind the Smithsonian Castle. Apparently many of those museums in that block - like the Sackler and the International Gallery, maybe the Freer too - are connected underground, but we didn't explore any further than African Art itself. It's a funky space and I really liked the architecture with a grand staircase that draws you down two levels to a big round, tile fountain. Our timing wasn't very good since the museum has 2 galleries closed right now preparing for new installations. I'll check back after January to see them, for sure.

We did see an exhibit of everyday objects that was very cool. Hand carved stools, chairs, head-rests (I have never thought of a head-rest before, but it's a great idea!) pipes, kitchen items, dolls, games, drinking horns, jewelry. All of the carving was really beautiful, from very simple wooden objects to intricately-designed ivory armlets.

Of course, we made a stop at the museum shop. What a great selection! My parents have traveled to Africa many times and they always bring home beautiful and interesting art and textiles, so walking into this shop was a lot like walking into their living room. Hand-woven bowls, fans, gorgeous fabrics, carved figures, jewelry. My dad got 2 African cookbooks and spices, so I hope I get to sample some new dishes at Christmas. I got a Putamayo CD of "Women of Africa" so I'm excited to listen to it soon! My coworkers will probably get to hear it too....

After lunch at Teaism, we made our way to The Shakespeare Theatre to see Othello. Thanks for the tix, JJ, the seats were great! Mom and Dad were excited to see Avery Brooks , since Mom's been a fan ever since he played Hawk on "Spenser: For Hire." And I think he had his own spin-off too. The show was pretty good. I was really impressed with Patrick Page (aka Mr. MPDP). I liked him much better in this than in Macbeth last year. Iago is such an evil character and he relished it. This is now the 3rd show I've seen with Lise Bruneau, and I really like her. As usual, the design was fantasitc - great lighting, sound, sets, and particularly the costumes. The Shakespeare Theatre knows how to make men look good, and those long leather coats were pretty hot.

I did have 2 main criticisms with the production. There was no reason the show needed to be 3 hrs and 20 minutes long. I felt like the entire first scene - 15 minutes or so - was included just to give David Sabin a role. All of that could have been cut with just a minute or two of exposition and the show could've started in Cyprus. And while I hate to begrudge a good scene between 2 female characters, since Shakespeare so rarely wrote good female scenes, but the whole "Barbary's song" part wasn't necessary. Desdemona is already a very sympathetic character, we didn't really need to give her that much backstory. And then there was Avery Brooks himself. Whether it was Michael Kahn's direction or Avery Brooks' choice, I'm not sure, but I did *not* like the physical characterization of Othello. He was so twitchy and animalistic. I know that Othello has to go mad and become violent, but I really didn't like the primal nature of Brooks' version of the Moor.

That primal nature started me thinking.... I'm not sure how I feel about the play itself. Othello is often hailed as a progressive, ground-breaking show because it addresses race and features a black lead (I'm saying black rather than African-American cuz it was a British playwright writing about a Moor, but I apologize if that's not the most PC way to speak about it). But actually watching the show made me wonder if it is really conveying a positive message or not. Putting aside Iago's machinations, we end up watching the downward spiral of a noble hero who becomes an angry black man, who turns his once blissful inter-racial relationsihp into a horrible case of domestic violence. After all of the negative stereotypes shown in movies, tv, and the news, is this really a story that should be perpetuated? If it were written by some unknown playwright last year versus Shakespeare 500 years ago, would more people talk about the race issues in the play? Good food for thought. I'd love to discuss it.

After the show, we had a thoroughly enjoyable dinner with 6 of my closest friends at the ChopHouse. Wow, that was a lot of food....and laughs! Stay tuned for more reviews of DC's finest tourist destinations!