disappointment

On a whim decided to go to Gounod's Faust tonight at The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN. My friends were going and it sounded interesting but, to be honest, all I knew about it was that a man sells his soul to the devil. Immediately when I heard the words "soul" and "devil" I made all sorts of assumptions about how deeply mysterious and interesting it would be. My assumptions turned out to be irrelevant to the actual play and I was disappointed. It started when I had to drive in a separate car from my friends because I, unlike them, had to go to the theatre on the hope that they'd be selling tickets at the door. Got my ticket, but had to park in a different parking lot that was farther away from where my friends parked. I walked in late and got seated in the back next to a lady with a nasty cough and a teenage boy who wouldn't stop twirling his glasses between his fingers and letting out dramatic "sigh" noises.

The Orpheum Theatre is on Beale street so there was plenty of commotion: people, horse carriages, trollies, and cars. Despite the predominately African American population of Memphis, there were no African Americans dressed in fancy schnancy clothes walking into The Orpheum to see this production. Got sad because I thought about how messed up it is that races are divided in this way. The people working traffic were African American, as were the security officers. However, all the snobby people walking into The Orpheum in sparking gowns were Caucasian. I was thankful to be wearing clothes that represent "the true me," namely, jean capris, black flip-flops, and a blue, cotton, v-neck t-shirt from Banana Republic.

Felt unsure about where to go once I got into the theatre, since I had never been there before, and felt like people would judge me based on being a strong, single woman in jean capris. Thought they wouldn't accept me. I was immediately shocked that all of the actors and actresses were Caucasian except the man who played the devil, or Mephistopheles, who was African American. Could that be any more of an ignorant idea? Given the stereotypes and generalizations that exist in society, how could the directors and playwrights overlook or misinterpret the obvious problems with this dramatic organization?

Most of the arguments I make are sort of weak, in my opinion. Perhaps that is why I find it so difficult to make arguments. But that is something I should discard, since it's a break-through of my insecure self onto the stage of my secure authorial blogger self. With that, I walked back to my dorm room and got into bed.