I arrived in Greene, New York just under a week ago, and you'll have to forgive the absence of new posts. I'd planned on writing the minute I arrived, but it took a few days to adjust to the new environment and get settled in. From there, it just became a matter of getting the first one out there, and the more I procrastinated, the harder it was to post (ain't that always the way?)
Regardless, I am happy to report that the bus trip here was uneventful, and I'm currently bunked down in the in-theatre accommodations of The Chenango River Theatre as we prep the production of
Escanaba in Da Moonlight opening on August 14th. Four of the six cast members are from out of town, and so we are living here dorm style along with the stage manager and the theatre intern. We each have our own rooms, decorated with props from past shows and furniture that includes a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a fan.
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| My own little corner of my own little room, as decorated with past props |
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| The bookshelf in my room. I'm determined to read this before the show closes. |
I have to say there was a kind of giddy excitement as I unpacked everything, trying to make the place home, as I'd be here for the next six weeks. It felt like, and still feels, like theatre camp. We have a company car, rehearsal once a day for a little under five hours, with one day off a week. So far there's been plenty of off-time to explore the surrounding area, run errands, make the occasional trip to the Barnes and Noble (a thirty minute drive) and otherwise keep busy. I plan to do a lot of reading, and hopefully get some writing done, although Netflix and
The Witches of East End have proved more tempting than I'd like to admit. The cast and crew are really friendly, mostly men, with two women, and while I feel a bit isolated as the only gay person within what feels like a twenty mile radius, I've been enjoying the chance to get-away.
Greene is a small farming community, where the grocery store nearest grocery store is a fifteen minute drive, and the downtown consists of about fifteen shops. They include a few restaurants, a bar, the hardware store and five and dime, which is just about all one would need. For most other things you would need to drive thirty minutes to the Binghamton mall. It is gorgeous country out here, and such a change from the crazed energy of the city. It's strange because on July 1st I moved from Austin to a completely different lifestyle in the city, and one month after that I had taken another detour into a life different from either of those. By the time Escanaba closes I will have lived here longer than I had in Brooklyn.
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| The view from downtown Greene |
Of course, it's taken a bit of getting used to, but most of it has been pretty easy. The one thing I cannot adjust to? The smell of sulfur in the shower water. It's like showering in liquid farts. There's no other way to put it.
