Stratford Sundries 1

1. About 5:30 this evening we arrived in Stratford, Ont., for our annual week-long orgy of playgoing: eleven plays in six days (including four by the Bard--Hamlet, Love's Labour's Lost, Pericles, and The Taming of the Shrew). I'll be posting every day--but with irregular hours--letting you know about the shows, the performers, the life in this amazing little town.

2. The drive up (about 6.5 hours--would be much shorter if there were a bridge from Cleveland to Ontario!) was generally okay--a bit of construction, but only one major slowdown (south of Detroit a bit on I-75). Drivers were ... drivers.

• Okay. The speed limits through construction zones. I observe them (with my little cheat of 4-5 mph), but many people blatantly ignore them, as if the sign said 50 (for pussies)--the rest of you can go as fast as you want to. And I really love it when there's a single lane and some impatient **** pulls up behind me, inches from my rear bumper, as if to say: Go faster or I am going to drive over you!  Geez.
• Canada does not give you enough warning about an imminent lane closing (I've noticed this on other trips, too)--and Canadian ****s are no better that American ****s who will not let you change over--except on their terms (viz., after they've gotten ahead of you).

3. We checked into our usual place--the Mercer Hall Inn, right downtown. In our usual room: 201, with a view of the main street. We've parked the car in back and will not drive again (probably) until after our Sunday matinee when it's time to head for home (weeping, usually). All four theaters are within easy walking distance (one is about a mile, though; still, we're ripped and in shape and have no trouble with such wussy distances). 

Then we walked over to Bentley's Restaurant (right across the street), where we had our usual Arrival Salad (our name, not theirs). Especially good this year.

4. We're now in the room, getting organized for the week. First show--The Physicists (Friedrich Dürrenmatt), which I read way back at Hiram College in the mid-1960s--is at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

5. Most startling sight: winging away from us on a country road--a hawk, a snake dangling from its mouth!

6. More tomorrow!

Stratford, Ont.
Aug. 3, 2015