On some Sunday afternoons in the summer, a small sandwichboard sign appears at the entrance to the park across the street from my house.
It advertises a performance in the amphitheater there of a Shakespeare play later that afternoon.This Sunday’s performance is “Romeo and Juliet”.
Amphitheater may be somewhat of an exaggeration, given that the venue is not much more than a grassy clearing amidst the cedars in that section of the park, a small hollow where people will spread their blankets or set up folding chairs to watch the performance, where children can run off and swing or slide or romp in the playground right next to the venue, easily incorporating a Shakespearean play into thier children’s vigorous, noisy, fun activities. People strolling or cycling past along the trails will pause to look on then continue on their way.
That’s something I like about Seattle. So many of its functions blend so easily into everyday life that they seem spontaneous, uncontrived...even a Shakespearean performance. Romeo woos Juliet in the shade of a large cedar while a jetliner flies low overhead, Prospero and Caliban come to terms in their fantasyland while children create their own fantasies in a playground a stone’s throw away without a thought of incongruity, without a stage, without a Box Office.
