08/23/2026
I got to see the wonderful production of “Southern Rapture” at PTD Productions in Ypsilanti Friday, under Karrie Waarala’s incisive direction. Congrats to everyone involved.
One of the things I love about seeing shows outside my hometown is that nobody in the audience knows me, so they feel free to just talk.
Which is what happened when a quiet young woman in her 20s sat down next to me.
I asked what brought her to the show. She said it was a flyer in the library. As she stood making copies she saw the poster for the show and, knowing nothing about the play, thought, “I’ll go see that.” (NOTE TO MARKETERS: Physical media can still be magic.)
She asked what brought me to the play, and I said I was friends with the director (which is true and I never like to let audience members know they are sitting next to the playwright of the show they’re watching. That creates a WHOLE other experience for them than the one I intended when I wrote the show).
She was embarrassed to admit she knows almost nothing about theatre. Her brother was in plays in high school so she went to see those, and she saw “Sweeney Todd” in college and that’s been it. And then she took a chance on this unknown play on a Friday night.
She seemed to enjoy it.
There was a talkback afterward and I walked up to sit on the stage and answer questions. She, like most of the audience, stayed to listen.
After it was done I was shaking hands and talking to actors and I looked to see if she was still around, for a chance to apologize for any misdirection I gave her about why I was there and that I hoped she’d had a good time.
She had already headed out.
Then as I was wrapping up my goodbyes, she suddenly appeared again. She had found a Sharpie pen somewhere and held out her program for me to sign.
“I guess I need to see more plays,” she said.
“I think you should,” I answered.
And I scrawled my name, she smiled, and disappeared into the night.
