HENRY: You want to tell me about black folks? I’ll help you: O.J. Was guilty. Rodney King was in the wrong place, but the police have the right to use force. Malcolm X. Was noble when he renounced violence. Prior to that he was misguided. Dr King was, of course, a saint. He was killed by a jealous husband, and you had a maid when you were young who was better to you than your mother. She raised you. You’ve never fucked a black girl, but one sat near you in science class, and she was actually rather shy.
(Pause.)
CHARLES: …I would never say any of…
HENRY: You’re fucking A right you wouldn’t. Which is the purpose of the lesson. Do you know what you can say? To a black man. On the subject of race.
CHARLES: “Nothing.”
HENRY: That is correct.
— David Mamet, Race, Theatre Communications Group: New York, pp. 5 – 6.
When I attended the City Night Songs rehearsal on Mon night, I was reminded of something that Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, once wrote about finding success in life:
If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like.
But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
Become the best at one specific thing.
Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I don’t recommend anyone even try.
The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort.
In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people.
The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare.
And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it…
Well, traditional theatre requires actors to be good at one thing and one thing alone: acting.
But the way the actors have to multi-task for City Night Songs is friggin’ amazing – they’re not only actors in the traditional theatrical sense, but they’re dancers and musicians too.
Having to do all these things consecutively (and sometimes, concurrently) is no easy task, and that they were cast to star in their various roles also points to their versatility and talent.
So if anything, you can be assured that these multi-talented actors are gonna put up a great show over the weekend.
And coupled with a fantastic script that has Huzir Sulaiman as both dramaturg and director, you can see why I’m looking forward to seeing the show in its full glory.
