The Rogue Theatre: Fear No Art

Fear No Art. That's the message on the tee shirt worn by male lead actor Joe McGrath when he and the cast of "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" sat down facing the audience for the after-play discussion. The female lead is Cindy Meier, who co-founded The Rogue Theatre with Joe. As always, their performances were jaw-dropping. These two theater professionals have worked together so long, their stage interactions are perfectly in sync.

I can't say this play is entertaining, but it is by far the best I have seen in the three year history of The Rogue Theatre. Joe plays Martin, a successful architect at the pinnacle of his career. He enjoys loving relationships with his wife Stevie, and his gay eighteen-year-old son, Billy (Matt Bowdren). I am so proud of our friend Cindy, who is amazing as Stevie, a smart, self-assured, witty woman. Martin shatters the family's perfect life when he announces he is in love with a goat. The play is shocking, horrifying, violent, vulgar and intensely thought-provoking. Because of the last quality, the performance is a work of art, albeit very disturbing.

Joe said The Rogue Theatre does not want to do plays that reinforce the audience's preconceived notions. The troupe wants to challenge the audience to question their values and assumptions, and "The Goat" effectively does exactly that. Why do certain behaviors disgust us? Where does aberration end and mental illness begin? Where is the line between moral and immoral? Why do these lines shift with time, circumstances and communities?

Cindy's real-life husband Tom Wentzel is very involved with the theater group. Web site designer is one of the many hats he wears, and The Rogue Theatre web site is one of the most beautiful I've seen.

Tom warned us not to sit in the front row of this play's intimate venue, the magical Cabaret Theater, located upstairs from the Temple of Music and Art. He said it would be too intense. He was right. The people in the front row fled as soon as the actors took their bows. Most of the rest of us remained in our seats, wide-eyed and stunned. Tom said we looked like that guy in the stereo speaker ad, gripping his chair with his hair blown back, and that is just how I felt.

I recommend you go on one of the nights when the post-play discussion will be held, so the actors can help you start the process of evaluating the complex issues presented in the play. I know I will be thinking about this play for a long time.

"The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" will play through January 20. Post-performance discussions on January 10, 13 and 17. Call 551-2053 for reservations and information.

Artistry in Glass

Two years ago I bought a small house in the Tucson Mountains. The back yard faces 63 acres of protected wildlife preserve. I didn't need another house, but the setting is stunning, and I couldn't resist. I figured I could use it as a vacation and party house, and maybe rent it short term to snow birds.

I spent six months renovating Desert's Edge, making it my dream home. By summer 2006, I still had plenty left to do, but I was so discouraged by the problems I had with the various contractors, I couldn't stand to work on it anymore.

Finally, last month, I felt could deal with the last three phases of the project -- install the floor tile and granite counter tops, and buy some furniture. The end is in sight, and I hope Desert's Edge will be ready for its housewarming by February.

I have bored my friends and myself to tears talking about what has gone wrong with this project. I want to use this blog to express my thanks to the people who made things go right.

I decided I wanted to have something like petroglyphs etched into some of the floor tiles. This is about the eighth property Jack Langley with Southwest Design has tiled for me. Jack suggested I talk to his neighbor, John Wakefield, at Artistry in Glass, to see whether he could get the effect I wanted. I did, and he could. John does all sorts of work in stained, leaded and beveled glass, including etching. He readily agreed to acid-etch patterns onto my floor tiles.

I traced Steve's hand and mine, added spirals in the palms, and took the drawings to John along with drawings of the sun and the Man in the Maze (only in this case, she's the Woman in the Maze).

John is from outside London, so just listening to him talk is a delight, but we learned that we had something in common. He's a former exploration geologist and I'm a former hydrologist. We both decided there had to be a better way to make a living than working for The Man, so we started our own businesses.

John runs his business the way I run mine. We try to keep the customer satisfied, even when it's not convenient. I wanted a change in the tiles on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas (he's only open by appointment on Saturday) and he cheerfully agreed to make the change that day so they could be installed on schedule. I am very happy with the results. You can see Steve's hand print in the photo above.