Shows # 60 - 62

Fairfield, oh Fairfield. Fairest of the fields. Field of fairs and all things fair and equal. I could wax eloquent about what a pleasant experience you were for hours and still not fully make my point.
Sunday, we drove to Fairfield, loaded in the set and performed two shows, back to back, for the general public. I love family audiences - the parents get to laugh at the adult humour, the children get to laugh at whatever it is Max is doing and we get to feel like we're reaching out to families as units, rather than just individual people. I LOVE when I peek out through the cracks in the set during Tarantula, and I can see a young child holding on to dad's hand. Or mom's. The show is more meaningful to me when it serves to bring people together; theatre, on the whole, should serve to bring communities together (among other purposes, but that's another debate) so when we achieve that, I feel like there is grace in what we do. Even if we are also getting beacoup de splinters and bruises and throwing out our backs, etc.
The other reason Fairfield straight up ROCKED is because of the food. When we first rolled into our tastefully decorated green room, there was a giant spread of bagels, cookies, fresh fruit, tea, coffee (even decaf!), juice and jellies. It was awesome. We were better fed between those two shows than I think we have been in a while.
No, I take that back. Totally ate lobster in Maine, and while bagels undoubtedly rule, not much can compete with lobster.
Anyway, after the show, I parted ways with the cast and drove out to family friends who lived in the area (for those of you who've been reading this, they are the people whose house we all stayed at in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach/Pawleys Island/what have you). I had a lovely dinner and spent the night with them (so rejuvenating to be around people you love and who love you) and then drove back to Fairfield this morning to do our show for the classes that were bussed in to see it, load-out and drive to NH.

During load-out, I was given cause to remind myself that the end is near and that, at this juncture, losing my temper achieves nothing. Bad habits that haven't been fixed by now never will be. Conversely, the good stuff has only gotten better. And, as I was saying on the phone with my dad today, I'm getting paid to do something that I love. Sure, the manual-labour-circus-style-life has its drawbacks, but I've always been a nomad at heart. I may as well be one professionally. And in profession, you can't always choose the circumstances, so you make the best of them. Obscure, I know, and probably irritating to read. I'll finish this section by quoting my old roommate, Brandon:
"If you can fix it, do. If you can't, get over it."

Regardless - we finished our sojourn in Fairfield, picked up the trail North and drove through to Concord, NH, a state I've never been to before. We'll be here (at the distinguished Hampton Inn) for the next couple days and then heading out to ... somewhere. I think more New Hampshire gigs are in the future, but I don't have my schedule in front of me and I'm too lazy to go check.

Anyway - call time tomorrow is 7.45 am. Sleep tight, everyone.