Keeping up, maybe

A CHILDHOOD FRIEND called me on Friday wondering if I'd like her spare ticket to a performance of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara at Portland Center Stage on Saturday. Naturally, I said yes.

I had not seen this play performed, nor had I read it, so I came to the theater expecting only that it would be an enjoyable afternoon. I left impressed, both with the production and the substance.

Briefly, the play, written in 1905, pits capitalism (via a hugely successful arms merchant) against socialism (represented by the arms merchant's daughter, a major in the Salvation Army.) As in real life, there were no easy answers and no conclusions. To quote Benjamin Fainstein, the literary manager for the theater, "Each time characters draw moral lines in the sand, others instantly come along to kick the grains back in their faces—and ours."

Not much different from today.

At home in the evening I turned on the TV to watch the Whitehouse Correspondents' Dinner, thinking a little humor would lighten my mood. And just as I knew nothing about Major Barbara, I knew nothing about the promised comedienne, Michelle Wolf.

It was refreshing to see a woman telling the jokes for a change and I did laugh; I also felt uncomfortable at times. But she's a comedienne with a point of view and she wasn't afraid to express it. What struck me was the conflict that immediately ensued. Twitter was awash in support and disdain—both sides referencing morality—and this morning the WHCD president Margaret Talev issued a statement essentially apologizing for Wolf's performance.

This is so hypocritical. It was Margaret Talev who invited Ms. Wolf and it was Talev who praised freedom of speech from the podium. And while Wolf used that freedom to tell the truth, albeit vulgarly at times, Mr. Trump was free at a campaign rally to spew lies and threats. Again.

It's hard to keep up with life in America lately, and it isn't getting easier. To soothe my soul I went with Jennifer to a pottery show on Sunday and spent the afternoon ogling the art and admiring the creativity.

This confluence of events reminded me once again that the arts both teach and touch us in ways nothing else can. So thank a playwright, potter, poet, or performer today. (Tomorrow you can work on the rest of the alphabet.)