I went to the Clark over in Williamstown to see No Man’s land with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. I hadn’t been in the Library part of the campus since it reopened – it really looks like a library now. The woman checking names for the performance listened to mine and said – oh, I recognize that name because I see it pretty often! – which I thought was an exceptionally nice thing to say. I did thank her for letting me cancel the duplicate ticket I’d purchased in a moment of panic.

The theater was quite full which surprised me. It also surprised me how many people asked their seat mate during the performance, “do you understand what’s going on?” Some of the people nearby joked that they were going out to the lobby during intermission to see if they could get some insight as to what was happening on the screen. One came back and said they’d not gotten anything useful. There was a short documentary before hand and then a Q&A afterwards about it which most people stayed for.

I had swung quickly through the current exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints. Really good stuff. To get to the performance I went through the permanent collection and as I went through the room of impressionist paintings I looked over my shoulder to see a favorite painting – and it wasn’t there! Who knew? They rearrange things from time to time. They had a focus on Renoirs in that room and the side gallery had a lot of Pissaro. Anyway my favorite was there but moved mid-wall. After the performance I backtracked and saw the few prints I’d not seen at all but think I’ll go back and spend more time there and with the Renoirs.

Here’s what to do on a Saturday night at home: