Now Look

I'm wearing contacts on a part-time basis. I've never before looked at my face in the mirror without glasses yet with unblurred vision. It turns out that the planes of my face are utterly different from the way they seem to me when they're obscured by glasses or poor vision. I think of my face as much more narrow and tapered than it is; it's rather broad and blocky. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

The theatre I'm working (okay, volunteering) at, Birmingham Festival Theatre, has a lobby full of old posters for old productions. I enjoy standing in that lobby, soaking up the 35 year history of the theatre, particularly when the posters list the cast. Some performer's and director's names recur again and again; others clearly dominated for a few years, then disappeared. Some folks acted in a slew of shows, went away, and are now back decades later as board members. I take pleasure in this sense of history, but I wish I could rewind time and enjoy productions that I didn't see. Theatres are always full of ghosts; the ghosts of finished productions, each with an individual flavour.