Why isn't *love* good enough?
I'd seen trailers for the upcoming movie Closer after a few films recently. If you haven't seen them, they outline a plot of two couples that are torn apart by cheating and deception. I cringed at the thought of seeing it because I'm not a fan of this kind of emotional pain in movies. Little did I know, I walked in to that very same plot tonight.

My second event at Stanford has been planned since a day or two after I saw Caligula Dismembered. I reserved a ticket for opening night because I'm a fan of opening night - you never quite know what'll happen. The two titles didn't click as one in the same until 15 minutes in to the play and by that time, I wasn't going to just walk out. The plot is really intriguing, probably moreso to me considering it's relevence and it seemed to keep everyone in the audience alert and attentive. I *did* manage to keep my mind on the production during it's entirety although the intermission and my .5mi+ walk home were both different stories.

As soon as the show started, I thought it was under par. The first scene was absolutely poor (especially compared to Caligula Dismembered a few nights before) and I was ready to be bored and angry at the terrible acting for the entire performance. Fortunately, things looked up as soon as the second scene started and stayed that way. I'll peg that on the fact that 3 of the 4 actors were freshmen (I *think* - at least 2 of 4) and, since this was a fall show, it was probably their first show at Stanford. They all seemed very well-acted from their bios in the program though, I'm glad it didn't take any longer than that to get used to things.

I recall hearing that the movie version has been modified in many ways to fit whatever vision the director had but if it's even vaguely like the show I saw, you'll want to see it. I'm very glad I got to see it and I might even hit the movie when it comes out on December 3rd to see the differences. It challenged the way I was thinking and made me doublecheck how I really felt and what I really wanted. That's the mark of a good screenplay mixed with good acting - and a little situational interest never hurt either.

The show at Stanford runs through the 21st of November. If you have a chance, go see this first. It's highly recommended.