Theater 101

[photo removed at the request of my employer]

Imagine, instead of 500 people watching 1 person perform onstage, if you could be the one spectator to a play with 500 characters, all of whom are emotionally invested in the scene. That's a New England Town Meeting in a nutshell.

I didn't have high hopes for this assignment. It turned out to be the best piece of theater I've seen in ages (sorry, Tommy Dickie). The dispute (whether to add zoning to a rural NH town) was immediately transformed into intensely personal conflict. One guy is saying his internationally-renowned dog breeding and kennel operation has been slandered. Another guy (the one in the first photo) says he was personally offended by the letter sent out by another guy (the one in the blue shirt in both pictures). More than half the town turned out to vote, and the proposal was soundly defeated. The top picture ran in the paper, but I have a soft spot for #2. There was a lot of NH character on display that night.