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June 22, 2003
Shakespeare Tango...
Last night, my wife and I attended Kansas City’s annual Shakspeare in the Park. The production was Hamlet — strikingly close to the original, which is somewhat unusual for a Shakspeare in the Park performance. This was our third year in a row. The first year we went, we took a blanket and some bottled water, thinking that most of the people would just be there to watch the play. Were we wrong! The majority of the people that go to Shakespeare in the Park could almost care less about the play — they’re there for the picnic! Needless to say, in the following years, Julianna and I have fallen in with the crowd. It’s not that we dislike the plays — we absolutely love them — but the chance to get outside, eat good food, and look at all of the people is invaluable to us.
This year was no different. It’s amazing to see the culinary spreads that people bring to Shakespeare in the Park. To our right, one couple had a bottle of Merlot, shrimp cocktail, and some sort of tortilla wraps. To our left, the couple had brought all of the fixings to make burritos right there — they even had little chicken chunks on wooden skewers! Behind us, they were eating croissants and fruit and drinking German beer. Well, Julianna and I were not to be outdone. We had loaded up our ice chest (complete with wheels so that we could roll it on our walk from our home to the park) with champagne, strawberries, cherries, an assortment of crackers, spinach-artichoke-cheese spread, and mint Milano cookies. We were definitely prepared for our gourmet feast on the grass.
Another great thing about Shakespeare in the Park is the people watching. The palette of humanity that attends is quite remarkable: from the bourgeoisie of mid-town to the proletariat of Raytown. While sitting and waiting for the play to begin, I noticed that the music being played through the P.A. system was a sort of Mediterranean Tango. It ended up being the perfect aural backdrop for the variety of people who passed in front of us on their way to their seats. There was a guy with a ZZ Top-like beard, a bunch of 20-something hippies, and an old man who had probably just come over from working on his farm. One guy, sitting atop the rock wall, looked as if he was drawing out every scene of the play in a sketchbook. In front of us, drinking Chardonnay, was a group of four 50-ish men and women who looked like they had been coming to Shakespeare in the Park for its entirety of eleven years — very well-prepared for their evening out. The people to our left (who were eating homemade burritos) were sitting on a foldout love seat. Julianna was convinced that they were health freaks because of the way that the woman had prepared all of their food.
It was a fun night in the park. I’d suggest it to anyone who asks. Take a blanket, some comfy chairs (or pillows as one group had done), and some good food. Get some culture and some fresh air right in the middle of our fair city.
Posted at 08:34 am
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