Closer this evening

Rolls at Dufferin and Colborne, 2008

I went to see "Closer" in the McMannus theatre space at The Grand tonight with Nadine and Luke and their friend Ryan. Stephanie was stage managing, and my tattoo artist Anthony V was directing the show.

Closer is the third play written by English playwright Patrick Marber. Premiered in 1997 in London - the UK one not here, and then on Broadway the following year. From the Wiki: "Set in contemporary London, it tells the story of four people in the "body business" — Dan the obituary writer, Alice the stripper, Anna the photographer, and Larry the dermatologist — who over a period of years meet and fall in love. It has been described as a work that "gets under its audience’s skin, and ... not for the emotionally squeamish."

I was warned it was 'brutal', but it was really a good story and well acted. While no nudity, it leaves nothing to the imagination with I think most of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" were covered multiple times and with a lot of passion. As were discussions of various sexual acts and practices. And in a small space you really feel the emotion of the actors. Nadine wanted to sit in the front row, but I think it was better 4 rows up. Better view and not quite as in the thick of it.

I spoke with John Iglesias - who plays Dan - after the show, and mentioned to him that the original Broadway run of Closer went for 172 performances. He said that even after the five performances so far, it was so emotionally draining in the more intense scenes - of which there are more than a few, that he couldn't imagine doing that many.

There is one more show tonight (Saturday). Not sure if there are any tickets left, but it is a really a good show, a good story, and really worth it - even if there is someone in the seat behind you whose empty stomach rumbled n growled so loud it was like a movie sound effect. :)

I had shot photos of Mindy earlier in the afternoon before the show, and still had my camera on me, so on the way home and in the tail end of an honest to goodness snow storm, I stopped to shoot a few images near city hall. The shot is of the North West corner of Dufferin and Colborne. I saw the four rolls of PVC pipe on their carriers covered in snow and decided I had to pull a U turn and shoot a few frames.

Actually because of traffic, I went up Colborne for a block and back down and then did a U turn on Dufferin and parked near the SW corner... but I liked the subject matter enough as I passed it to give it a go. The two guys meeting at the corner was just a bonus.

It's from an uncropped RAW shot and all editing other than the watermark was done in Lightroom. Canon XTi, 24-105 L IS, 40mm, ISO 800, 1/25th second at f4.0, exposure bias +1 1/3 stops, handheld.


Mike

Mike Wood Photography