03/27/2015
An email from the future, sent by a satisfied visitor to Arbroathicon: "You remember that I saw the most dynamic staging of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire I could imagine on Tuesday night. After the curtain, I bought two tickets for the Scottish Ballet's dance version of the play, which I saw tonight. Strong but lyrical dancers are the Scots (pic). The plot was adhered to throughout the dance and I can imagine that Mr. Williams would have loved this poetic tribute to his work. Where possible, Arbroathicon will program alternate art form works to run simultaneously with the primary work itself. It will also commission new works for this protocol.
"There is a beautifully manicured concert lawn here of some 25 acres. But tonight a dance floor for 300 rose from the ground in front of the music pavilion, lighted subtly with low-level stage lights. Carnival lights of the kind that appear in Streetcar were also strung about. A second, buffet-dining floor arose beside this. Local restaurateurs and vintners busily set up their individual service pavilions as a band in the music pavilion began playing New Orleans jazz and, later on, zydeco. Lawn chairs and tables are arranged around the lawn for drinking and dining.
"In one of the buffet lines I met a couple from Paris and one from Florence. We were eager to discuss Arbroathicon and its offerings, so we chose a table where we could sit together. We agreed the Creole food was excellent and enjoyed tasting the wide selection of wines. Soon, the music and the mood made us all want to dance, so we ambled to the dance floor, where about 50 couples were already dancing to the irresistible jazz. To quench inevitable dancers' thirst, three bars had been set up adjacent to the floor.
"There is virtually no pollution here, so the stars in their constellations shone brightly in the night sky. I had just asked my partner if he knew which star was Aldebaran, when I was tapped on the shoulder by a handsome guy with a pronounced Scottish brogue. He pointed to a prominent constellation, saying "That's Ta**us and you'll be knowing that the brightest star up there - the one with the slightest red tone - is Aldebaran itself. It's the right eye of the bull,"
"My astronomer was a principle dancer with the Scottish ballet and he brought the entire company with him onto the floor. How often will I be able to say I danced the night away under a star-strewn sky with members of an international ballet company? I'll be telling this story to my grandchildren, I'm sure.
"So, if you want a brief review of what the creators of Arbroathicon have done here, I have one: Bull's Eye!"
