not saying no

I read a recent article in the NYT about the joy of saying yes, or something like that. It's easy for me to pass on things. Doesn't sound interesting. I'd rather stay in. Too far to travel to by subway. Starts too early. Ends too late.  Or a million other non-excuses. So I am trying harder to say yes more often than no.

Robin calls a couple of days ago with an offer to see something at Park Armory. It has a weird name, Monkey Off my Back or Cat's Meow. Neither of us have heard anything about it. "But my friend saw it last night and thought it was amazing," Robin adds. I say yes. Amazing is a good endorsement, even though I don't know and don't ask who the friend is. The Armory is on the eastside, an easy walk. I have no plans for Friday. The Armory wouldn't put on something unworthy. And it's two hours with no intermission (which I like).

Something similar happened this summer. Robin calls. She has inexpensive tickets to some play in the East Village called The Animals Speak. And even better, there is a "documentary" screening before the play called The Fairest, by the same writer/director/actor who is in the play. Both have something to do with Walt Disney. And both sound interesting.

We get to the late afternoon screening and the ticket taker is also the writer/director. This should have told us something.

And, we are the only ones at the screening. We sit in the same small theater as the writer/director, so there is no leaving. We would be noticed. The Fairest is not a documentary about the women in Disney's paint department and how poorly they were treated. Instead, it is a fictional account replete with Snow White's ghost, meaningless romances and poor acting. In other words, dreadful. 

We grab dinner nearby.

Then go back to see the play. We are not the only ones in the audience this time (the theater is packed).  The play (starring and written by the same writer/director) is better, but still far from good.

All this to say, saying yes to Monkey Off My Back could be a huge mistake.

And it is.

A combination of fashion and dance. No story. Almost no dialogue. Bizarre costumes and models. Impossible to understand, which may well be the point. 

Two hours and no intermission. Finally, 90 minutes in, we see people leaving and join in. We exit with relief into the cool night air.

Reviews are great. Perhaps it's just too edgy and esoteric for us.