Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the start of the Holiday season are knocking at the door. It’s a time of celebration, re-connection, and consumption. It’s wonderful, it’s frenetic, it’s hectic, and it’s very often exhausting. And in the midst of all the merry and the ho, ho, ho, it’s easy to lose touch of yourself.
So Better Said Than Done is doing something to forestall that eventuality by scheduling a little time to focus on the individual. This Saturday, November 26th, we’ll be bringing you “Body, Mind, and Spirit: Stories About Our Selves” both at the Auld Shebeen in Fairfax, VA, and online via Zoom. Our founder and fearless leader Jessica Robinson is your host for the night, and she’ll be bringing up on our stage the incredible cast she’s gathered: Richard Barr, Adam Booth, JR Denson, Alex Dixon, Jenn Kamara, Carol Moore, and Andrea Young! Tickets are available here!
In order to give you a little insight into the minds of these tellers, but not wanting to spoil their own stories in any way, I asked them a seemingly counterintuitive but ultimately related question:
If you could spend a week as anyone else in the history of the world, who would it be and why?
Here’s what they had to say…
Richard Barr: There are two tempting areas of history I couldn’t do. First is preventing some disaster. My parents met in the Army during WWII. If I prevented Hitler’s rise to power, there wouldn’t be a war, my parents wouldn’t have met and I wouldn’t have been born to stop Hitler. So that’s impossible. Second, it might be fun to meet historic sirens like Cleopatra, Catherine the Great or Anne Boleyn, but I’d be disillusioned by the hygiene of earlier times. Therefore, I choose to be John James Audubon in the week he observed now-extinct passenger pigeons cover the sky and whose numbers in the trees broke limbs.
Adam Booth: Jasper Johns for a week during the 1950s. I’d be curious to know what it was like to strive to create art in NYC at that time, and to have Rauschenberg by my side, not consciously changing American art but simply achieving that outcome by creating what felt right to create in the time. And I would be interested to know what currents were running through their minds as they made choices about what to work on.
JR Denson: I’d choose being a US President the first week on the job. On that first week, you get a bunch of nice congratulatory texts and calls. Also, your approval rating will never be higher than it is that first seven days. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, you get the secret-secrets briefing. Like, “what’s really at Area 51?”, “Where is Amelia Earhart?”, and “Why is it that during rush hour all the other lanes seem to be moving more smoothly than the one I’m currently in?”
Alex Dixon: Right now, as an activist, I am needing the stories of the “unknown” people , who stayed off the front lines and did the work to help keep the movement going by feeding people, childcare, etc. So I don’t have a particular name, but that’s who I would like to spend a week with with myself.
Jenn Kamara: I would choose Jeff Bezos because he’s absurdly rich and I could be Robin Hood. Within the week I’d pay off a lot of people’s debt (including my own), and fulfill everyone’s Amazon wish list.
Carol Moore: I’ve often wondered what it would have been like to be present at the very beginning of the world, mainly so I could weigh in on the naming of some of the animals. Most of them make no sense to me. Otherwise, I’d want to spend a week as Oprah. Oprah has made such an impact in lives of so many, and I believe she’s the closet thing we have to a Queen. I’d love to experience her world, her resources, and her ability to create change. I also think I read that she has a personal chef, and I need that in my life.
Andrea Young: Josephine Baker would be great to be. I’d love to hear her recount her time during the Roaring Twenties, but to also learn how she decided to become an actress and pioneer in the industry. But what I am most excited to relive is her experiences with adopting her Rainbow Tribe of 10 children and the stories she created for them. Finally, what did that banana skirt feel like and how did she live part of her life with secrets???
Intriguing, thoughtful, and poignant answers, wouldn’t you say? Just imagine what they’ll bring to the table when they’re revealing their own inner depths. Good news – you don’t have to imagine! Join us! If you’re in the Greater D.C. Metro, head on down to the Auld Shebeen. Otherwise, come to our online watch party.
One last thought: if you’re hosting friends and/or relatives over the holiday weekend, bring ’em to this show! It’s a great way to spend your Saturday night.
The in-person doors open at 6:00 P.M. and the show begins at 7:00. Tickets start at $5 for the online version and $15 in person, with a variety of options to please all comers. Secure your tickets now!
