The reason I can do that is because I need a break, and we did enough this weekend that I can pretend I was thinking about other things.

But first, look at this.

For years, I have driven by and wondered about it. It’s okay. Tuna on whole wheat and a cup of coffee for $12.02.

Onward…..

We went to the theaters twice this weekend. Both very good experiences.

Saturday, we saw “Out of Character”, at Theater J. It was the final performance of the one man show by Ari’el Stachel, an Israeli-American actor who won a Tony for his role in The Band’s Visit.

Stachel is immensely talented, with an emphasis on immensely. The show, an 80 minute autobiography,  is interesting. Satchel’s battles with OCD, his feeling that he needed to hide his Jewish Yemenite father who “looked Arab”, his difficulty coming to terms with his own identity as he lived, on stage and off, with created identities.

But, because I always need to find something to criticize: the play is a trifle (actually more than a trifle) narcissistic. Perhaps this is part of Stachel’s therapy. That, I don’t know. But how many of us would want to write and put on stage with ourselves as the actors playing not only ourselves, but versions of everyone who had any influence on our lives?

The second play, which we saw Sunday, was the opposite of narcissistic.

Called Who Cares? The Caregiver Project, and produced as part of the Voices Festival Production, Ari Roth’s current company,  its run has also ended.

Who Cares is a very unique show featuring six actors playing many more roles. It is centered around a support group of six, who meet, sometimes with an advisor, because each of them, all theater professionals, find their life plans altered because they have become necessary caregivers to their parents,  their spouse or their sibling. Their stories, based in real life interviews with real life people, are told with honesty, compassion, frustration and humor. Each of the cast members played their many parts, exceptionally. It is performed in the round with the goal of making each of the 60 audience members feel like more than just a spectator.

A criticism? Of course. Following an absolutely perfect first act, the second act went on for too long. A ten minute chop would make both acts perfect.

I was also going to write about some things we have streamed or seen on TV, but they can wait.

By the way, the Grammys this year had some wonderful performances. Critique? Trevor Noah was a particularly uninteresting host, and the outfit worn by virtually all of the ladies would look better in the trash bin. If Ye’s wife wore her outfit as a sartorial protest, I would understand it. Did she?