I have a surprising bit of news. I’m thinking of taking an acting class. And no, I do not wish to be an actor.

I went to the Oldcastle Theater in Bennington, Vt. Saturday night with Maria and a friend, we saw the Bennington Community Theater perform “The Curious Savage,” a social comedy about money and family and the idea of home.

The actors were great, it was a terrific performance.

I’ve always believed that community theater is one of the purest forms of creativity, I’ve always loved it.  That was the case tonight.

The play was directed by Christine Decker, an acclaimed actor and the Education Director at Oldcastle she  performed a leading role in a short play I wrote for the Hubbard Hall theater in Cambridge, N.Y. , several years ago.

The play focused on a struggling family dairy farm, Christine played the role of the farmer’s wife as their dairy farm went under. She stole the show.

Her performance was amazing,  I remember it so clearly. She was impressive and made a deep impression on me, the character she played was so much stronger than the one I wrote.

If I ever took an acting class, she would be the teacher I would want.

Tonight, she talked to the audience and announced that she was teaching an acting class early in 2019 and said anyone interested should contact her.

I was quite surprised at my response, I felt this sudden rush. It felt like a calling of one kind or another. I leaned over in the dark theater and whispered to Maria, “I think I want to take her class.”

Maria didn’t blink.”Great,” she whispered back,
do it.”

So I think I want to take the class, it is not something I ever thought of doing before, but seeing the energy and excitement in the small Vermont theater tonight, I was much drawn to the idea.

I should say I have no interest in acting or in acting in the theater or anywhere else. I am, as you know, deeply interested in the idea of community, from a community cafe to a  community radio station to community theater.

I don’t want it to lead to anything but learning. There is no other agenda.

The idea of community in America is fading in America, community is important.

But beyond that, I am a warrior for new experience. I want to be challenged. I understand that many people my age – I am 71 – are downsizing their lives and cutting back on their work and interests.

I am not.

This is a wonderful time of life for me, I have never been more creative, productive or engaged with life. I have this sense that an acting class would be something wonderful to write about and also something that might deepen my understanding of myself and enrich my writing.

I abhor old talk and old thinking, it is a killer and smotherer of life.

Maria thinks this is a wonderful idea, she is also deeply into new experience. In two weeks, she will be part of a Hafla, a  Belly Dancing celebration for friends and family.

I e-mailed Christine the minute I got home from the play, and I’ll see if she agrees with me. She may not want a 71-year-0ld author with sore legs in her class, and the class may already be full, or awfully expensive.

But if she’s game, I’m game. I think. I have to mull this, it has to make sense to me tomorrow and the next day. And I need to know what she thinks about it.

But I find myself surprisingly drawn to and excited about something I never once thought of doing in my whole life. I feel there is something for me to learn in a class like that, with a teacher like that.

New experience is what pulls me out of myself, and helps me learn and grow.

I do sometimes think of the world as one big theater, and I am playing my part in a microscopic corner of the great stage. I’ll let you know.