As it is in Irvine

I've just seen a magnificent play called "As It Is In Heaven," at the small black box theatre at U.C. Irvine. It's about a community of Shaker women, full of very well done music, tremendous performances, and a spartan, yet completely satisfying production. It's the best play I've seen in a very long time, and I see a lot of plays. Most of them stink...there, I said it. I've seen several thousand bad plays in my lifetime, and several thousand terrible performances that were much more a sitcom audition for casting people that might be sitting in the audience than a gutsy, connected performance of that specific role in that specific play. And since theatres are having a hard time selling tickets anymore, there are two major audience demographics left. These contrasting demographics either want to see "The King And I," starring Loretta Swit, or "Heather Has Three Daddies, the musical!"

Congratulations to the U.C. Irvine theatre department, and young people who are hungry to perform intelligent, gutsy theatre, not "edgy" pablum. "Edgy" is the new "boring."