Showing posts with label Wally Shawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wally Shawn. Show all posts

Tuesday 23 August 2022

Maihar'du













Maihar'du was the Hupyrian servant of former Grand Nagus Zek. Maihar'du had taken a vow of silence and was only permitted to speak to the Nagus. He was very imposing and was not only a servant, but a bodyguard and food taster. He was also the flight control officer to Zek's personal shuttle. He often provided Zek with his favorite drug, Hupyrian beetle snuff. 

He was very concerned when Zek came under the influence of the Prophets and tried to rewrite the Rules of Acquisition. He brought Zek to Quark and Rom to seek their help. For their assistance, Maihar'du presented Quark with an expensive handkerchief and patted him on the head. 

Once Zek appointed Rom as the new Grand Nagus, Maihar'du pulled Brunt away from Rom and forcibly sat him down to the side. After giving nods of well wishes and farewells to Rom, Maihar'du accompanied Zek and Ishka to Zek's retirement on Risa. 

Sunday 21 August 2022

Roberts

 








BOB :
 Rest, Highness. 

The Princess Bride :
I know Who You Are
Your Cruelty reveals everything. 
You're The Dread Pirate Roberts. Admit it. 

BOB :
With pride. 
What can I do for you? 

The Princess Bride :
You can die slowly,
cut into a thousand pieces.

BOB :
 Hardly complimentary, Your Highness. 
Why loose your venom on me? 

The Princess Bride :
You killed My Love.

BOB :
It's possible. I kill a lot of people. 
Who was this love of yours? 
Another prince like this one? 
Ugly, rich and scabby? 

The Princess Bride :
No, a farm boy. Poor
Poor and perfect
With eyes like the sea 
after a storm. 

On the high seas Your Ship attackedand 
The Dread Pirate Roberts 
never takes prisoners. 

BOB :
I can't afford to make exceptions. 
I mean, once word leaks out that 
A Pirate has gone soft, 
people begin to disobey you, 
and then it's nothing but work, 
work, work, all the time. 

The Princess Bride :
You mock my pain! 

BOB :
Life is Pain, Highness. 
Anyone who says differently 
is selling something. 

I remember this farm boy of yours, I think. 
This would be what? Five years ago? 
Does it bother you to hear? 

The Princess Bride :
Nothing you can say 
will upset me. 

BOB :
He died well. That should please you. 
No bribe attempts or blubbering. 
He simply said, "Please.
Please, I need to live." 
It was the "please
that caught My Memory. 
I asked him what was 
so important for him. 
"True Love," he replied. 

And then he spoke of a girl 
of surpassing Beauty... 
and Faithfulness. 
I can only assume 
he meant you.

You should bless me for destroying him 
before he found out what you really are. 

The Princess Bride :
And what am I? 

BOB :
Faithfulness he talked of, madam. 
Your enduring faithfulness
Now tell me truly. 
When you found out he was gone, 
did you get engaged to your prince 
that same hour, or did you wait 
a whole week out of 
respect for The Dead? 

The Princess Bride :
You mocked me once. 
Never do it again! 
I died that day! 
You can die, too, for all I care! 

As you wish! 

The Princess Bride :
Oh, my sweet Westley! 
What have I done? 


They've disappeared. 
He must have seen us closing in. 
Which might account for his panicking into error. 
Unless I'm wrong, 
and I'm never wrong, 
they are headed dead 
into the Fire Swamp. 

The Princess Bride :
Can you move at all? 

BOB :
Move? 

The Princess Bride :
You're alive. 

BOB :
If you want, I can fly. 
I told you I would always 
come for you. 
Why didn't you wait for me? 

The Princess Bride :
Well, you were dead

BOB :
Death cannot stop True Love. 
All it can do is delay it for a while. 

The Princess Bride :
I will never doubt again. 

BOB :
There will never be a need. 

Oh, no, no, please. 

What is it? What's the matter? 

They're kissing again. 
Do we have to hear the kissing part? 

Someday, you may 
not mind so much. 

Skip on to the Fire Swamp. 
That sounded good. 

You're sick. I'll humor you. 
So, now, where were we here? 

Oh, okay. "Westley and Buttercup 
raced along the ravine floor." 


BOB :
Your pig fiancé is too late. 
A few more steps 
and we'll be safe in the Fire Swamp. 

The Princess Bride :
We'll never survive. 

BOB :
Nonsense. You're only 
saying that because 
no one ever has

The Princess Bride :
It's not that bad. 
I'm not saying I'd like 
to build a summer home here, 
but the trees are actually 
quite lovely. 


BOB :
Well, now, that was an adventure. 
Singed a bit, were you? 

The Princess Bride :
You? 

BOB :
Well, one thing I will say, 
The Fire Swamp certainly does 
keep you on your toes. 

This will all soon be 
but a happy memory, 
because Roberts' Ship, 
'Revenge', 
is anchored at the far end, and 
I, as you know, 
am Roberts. 

The Princess Bride :
But how is that possible, since 
he's been marauding 20 years, 
and you only left me 
five years ago? 


BOB :
I, myself, am often surprised 
at Life's little quirks. 

See, what I told you before about 
saying "please" was True. 
It intrigued Roberts, as did 
my description of your beauty. 

Finally Roberts decided something. 
He said, "All right, Westley. 
I've never had A Valet. 
You can try it for tonight. 
I'll most likely kill you 
in the morning." 

Three years, he said that. 
"Good night, Westley. 
Good work. Sleep well.
 I'll most likely 
kill you in the morning." 

It was a fine time for me. 
I was learning to fence, to fight, 
anything anyone would teach me. 

And Roberts and I eventually 
became friends. 

And Then it Happened.

The Princess Bride :
What? Go on. 

BOB :
Roberts had grown so rich 
he wanted to retireso 
he took me to his cabin...  
and told me A Secret.
 
"I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts," he said. 

"My Name is Ryan
I inherited The Ship 
from the previous 
Dread Pirate Roberts,
just as you will 
inherit it from me.

The Man I inherited it from 
was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either.
His Name was 
'Cummerbund'. 

The real Roberts has 
been retired 15 years 
and living like 
A King in Patagonia." 

Thank You. Then he explained 
The Name was the important thing 
for inspiring the necessary fear. 

You see, no one would surrender 
to the Dread Pirate Westley. 

So, we sailed ashore, took on
an entirely new crew, and he 
stayed aboard for a while, as First Mate, 
all the time calling me 'Roberts'. 
Once The Crew believed, he left The Ship, 
and I have been Roberts ever since. 

Except, now that we're together, 
I shall retire and hand The Name 
over to someone else. 

Is everything clear to you?

Friday 22 October 2021

Survival









"I don't even really KNOW -- What You're TALKING About....!!

I mean, I KNOW, What You're Talking About -- but I don't REALLY know 
What You're Talking About...!"




Wally Shawn :
“Well, uh... do you want to know my actual response to all this? 
Do you want to hear my actual response?”

Andre :
Yes! 

Wally Shawn :
See, my actual response, I mean... 
I mean, I'm just trying to Surviveyou know? 
I mean, I'm just trying to earn a Living... 
just trying to Pay My Rent and My Bills. 
I mean... Ah, I Live My Life. 

I enjoy staying home with Debby. 
I'm reading Charlton Heston's autobiography. 
And that's that. 
I mean, you know, I mean, occasionally, maybe... 
Debby and I will step outside
we'll go to a party or something. 

And if I can occasionally 
get my little Talent together 
and write a little play... 
well, then that's just wonderful

And I mean, I enjoy reading 
about other little plays people have written,
and reading the reviews of those plays 
and what people said about them... 
and what people said about 
what people said

And I mean, I have a list of errands and responsibilities
that I keep in a notebook. I enjoy going through the notebook... 
carrying out the responsibilities, doing the errands,
and crossing them off The List

And, I mean, I just don't know how anybody 
could enjoy anything more than I enjoy, 
reading Charlton Heston's autobiography,
or, you know, getting up in the morning... 
and having the cup of cold coffee 
that's been waiting for me all night,
still there for me to drink in the morning... 
and no cockroach or fly has died in it overnight. 

I mean, I'm just so thrilled when I get up... 
and I see that coffee there, 
just the way I wanted it. 

I mean, I just can't imagine.. 
How anybody could enjoy something else 
any more than that. 
I mean, obviously, if the cockroach, 
if there is a dead cockroach in it... 
well, then I just have a feeling 
of disappointment, and I'm sad. 

But I mean, I just don't think... 
I feel the need for anything more than all this. 

Whereas, you know, you seem to be saying... 
that, uh... it's inconceivable that anybody 
could be having a meaningful life today... 
and, you know, everyone is totally destroyed... 
and we all need to live in these outposts. 

But I mean, you know, I just can't believe, even for you... 

I mean, don't you find, isn't it pleasant just to get up in the morning... and there's Chiquita, there are the children.... and The Times is delivered, you can read it. I mean, maybe you'll direct a play, maybe you won't direct a play. 

But forget about the play that 
you may or may not direct. 

Why is it necessary to, why not lean back 
and just enjoy these details

I mean, and there'd be a delicious 
cup of coffee and a piece of coffeecake. 

I mean, why is it necessary 
to have more than this... 
or to even think about 
having more than this? 



I mean, I don't really know what you're talking about. 
I mean, I know what you're talking about... 
but I don't really know what you're talking about. 

And I mean, you know, even if 
I were to totally agree with you, you know,
and even if I were to accept the idea 
that there's just no way for anybody 
to have personal happiness now... 
well, you know, I still couldn't accept the idea... 
that the way to make life wonderful would be to just totally... 
you know, reject Western civilization... 
and fall back into some kind of belief 
in some kind of weird something

I mean, I don't even know 
how to begin talking about this...
 but you know, in the Middle Ages... 
before the arrival of scientific thinking as we know it today... 
well, people could believe anything

Anything could be True, 
The statue of the Virgin Mary
could speak or bleed or whatever it was. 

But the wonderful thing that happened
was that then in The Development 
of Science in The Western World
certain things did come slowly 
to be known and understood

I mean, you know... obviously, 
all ideas in Science are constantly 
being revised

I mean, that's The Whole Point. 

But we do at least know that 
The Universe has some shape and order... 
and that, you know, 
Trees do not turn into 
People or Goddesses... 
and there are very good 
reasons why they don't... 
and you can't just believe 
absolutely anything. 

Whereas, the things that you're talking about... 
I mean, I mean, You found the handprint in the book
and there were Three "André"s 
and one Antoine de Saint-Exupery. 

And to me, that is 
a coincidence

But, and, and then, you know, 
the people who put that book together... 
well, they had their own 
reasons for putting it together. 

But to you it was significant
as if that book had been written 
40 years ago, so that you would see it
as if it was planned 
for youin a way. 

I mean, really, I mean... 
I mean, all right, let's say, 
if I get a fortune cookie 
in a Chinese restaurant... 
I mean, of course, 
even I have a tendency. 
I mean, you know, I mean, of course, 
I would hardly throw it out. 
I mean, I read it. I read it, and, and... 
I just instinctively sort of, you know, 
if it says something like, uh... 
"A conversation 
with a dark-haired man 
will be very important for you
Well, I just instinctively think, you know, 
"Who do I know who has dark hair?" 
"Did we have a conversation?" 
"What did we talk about?" 

In other words, there's something 
in me that makes me read it 
and I instinctively interpret it 
as if it were an omen 
of The Future. 

But in my conscious opinion, 
which is so fundamental to 
my whole view of life... 

I mean, I would just have to change totally 
to not have this opinion. 

In my conscious opinion
this is simply something... that was 
written in the cookie factory
several years ago and 
in no way refers to me. 

I mean, you know, the, 
the fact that I got it. 

I mean, the man who wrote it 
did not know anything about me. 
I mean, he could not have known 
anything about me. 

There's no way that this cookie 
could actually have to do with me

And the fact that I've gotten it 
is just basically a joke

And I mean, if I were gonna go on a trip on an airplane... and I got a fortune cookie that said "Don't go!" I mean, of course, I admit I might feel a bit nervous for about one second. But in fact, I would go because, I mean... that trip is gonna be successful or unsuccessful... based on the state of the airplane and the state of the pilot. 

And the cookie is in no position to know about that. 

And I mean, you know, it's the same 
with any kind of, prophecy, 
or a sign, or an omen. 

Because if you believe in omens then 
that means that The Universe... I mean, I don't even know how to begin to describe this. That means that the future is somehow sending messages... backwards to the present. Which, which means that the future must exist in some sense already... in order to be able to send these messages. And it also means that things in the universe are there for a purpose... to give us messages. Whereas I think that things in the universe are just there. I mean, they don't mean anything. I mean, you know, if the turtle's egg falls out of the tree and splashes on the paving stones... it's just because that turtle was clumsy by accident. And, and to decide whether to send my ships off to war on the basis of that... seems a big mistake to me. Well, what information would you send your ships to war on? Because if it's all meaningless... what's the difference whether you accept the fortune cookie... or the statistics of the Ford Foundation? It doesn't seem to matter. Well, the meaningless fact of the fortune cookie or the turtles egg... can't possibly have any relevance to the subject you're analyzing. Whereas a group of meaningless facts that are collected and interpreted... in a scientific way may quite possibly be relevant. Because the wonderful thing about scientific theories about things... is that they're based on experiments that can be repeated. 

Well, it's True, Wally. 

I mean, you know, 
following omens and so on... 
İs probably just a way of letting ourselves off the hook so that 
we don't have to take individual responsibility for our own actions. 

But I mean, giving yourself over to The Unconscious can leave you vulnerable to all sorts of very frightening manipulation

And in all the work that I was involved in, 
there was always that danger. 

And there was always that question of tampering with people's lives,
because if I lead one of these workshops, 
then I do become partly a doctor
and partly a therapist
and partly a priest. 

And I'm not a doctor, 
or a therapist or a priest. 

And already some of these new monasteries, or communities 
or whatever we've been talking about are becoming institutionalized... 
and  I guess even in a way, 
at times, sort of fascistic

You know, there's a sort of self-satisfied elitist paranoia that grows up... a feeling of "Them" and "Us" that is very unsettling. 

But I mean, the thing is, Wally, 
I think it's the exaggerated worship of science that has led us into this situation. 

I mean, science has been held up to us as a magical force 
that would somehow solve everything

Well, quite the contrary. 
It's done quite the contrary. 
It's destroyed everything. 

So that is what has really led, I think to this very strong, deep reaction against Science that we're seeing now, just as the Nazi demons that were released in the '30s in Germany 
were probably a reaction against a certain oppressive kind of knowledge and culture and rational thinking

Sol agree that we're talking about something 
potentially very dangerous
But modern science has not been 
particularly less dangerous. 

Right. Well, I agree with you. I completely agree. No, you know, the truth is... I think I do know what really disturbs me about the work you've described... and I don't even know if I can express it. But somehow it seems that the whole point of the work that you did in those workshops... when you get right down to it and you ask what was it really about... The whole point, really, I think... was to enable the people in the workshops, including yourself... to somehow sort of strip away every scrap of purposefulness... from certain selected moments. And the point of it was so that you would then all be able to experience... somehow just pure being. In other words, you were trying to discover what it would be like to live for certain moments... without having any particular thing that you were supposed to be doing. And I think I just simply object to that. I mean, I just don't think I accept the idea that there should be moments... in which you're not trying to do anything. I think, it's our nature, to do things. I think we should do things. I think that, purposefulness... is part of our ineradicable basic human structure. And to say that we ought to be able to live without it... is like saying that, a tree ought to be able to live without branches or roots. 

But, but actually, without branches or roots, it wouldn't be a tree. I mean, it would just be a log. Do you see what I'm saying? I mean, in other words, if 
I'm sitting at home and I have nothing to do... well, I naturally reach for a book. I mean, what would be so great about just sitting there and, doing nothing? It just seems absurd. 
And if Debby is there? Well, that's just the same thing. I mean, is there really such a thing as, uh... two people doing nothing but just being together? I mean, would they simply then... be, "relating," to use the word we're always using? I mean, what would that mean? I mean, either we're gonna have a conversation... or we're going to, carry out the garbage... or we're going to do something, separately or together. I mean, do you see what I'm saying? I mean, what does it mean to just, simply, sit there? That makes you nervous. Well, why shouldn't it make me nervous? It just seems ridiculous to me. That's interesting, Wally. You know, when I went to Ladakh in western Tibet and stayed on a farm for a month... well, there, you know, when people come over in the evening for tea, nobody says anything. Unless there's something to say, but there almost never is. So they just sit there and drink their tea, and it doesn't seem to bother them. I mean, you see, the trouble, Wally, with always being active and doing things... is that I think it's quite possible to do all sorts of things... and at the same time be completely dead inside. I mean, you're doing all these things, but are you doing them... because you really feel an impulse to do them... or are you doing them mechanically, as we were saying before? Because I really do believe that if you're just living mechanically... then you have to change your life. I mean, you know, when you're young, you go out on dates all the time. You go dancing or something. You're floating free. And then one day suddenly you find yourself in a relationship... and suddenly everything freezes. And this can be true in your work as well. And I mean, of course, if you're really alive inside... then of course there's no problem. I mean, if you're living with somebody in one little room... and there's a life going on between you and the person you're living with... well, then a whole adventure can be going on right in that room. But there's always the danger that things can go dead. Then I really do think you have to kind of become a hobo or something, you know... like Kerouac, and go out on the road. I really believe that. You know, it's not that wonderful to spend your life on the road. My own overwhelming preference is to stay in that room if you can. But you know, if you live with somebody for a long time, people are constantly saying... "Well, of course it's not as great as it used to be, but that's only natural. The first blush of a romance goes, and that's the way it has to be." Now, I totally disagree with that. But I do think that you have to constantly ask yourself the question, with total frankness: "Is your marriage still a marriage?" "Is the sacramental element there?" Just as you have to ask about the sacramental element in your work... "Is it still there?" 

I mean, it's a very frightening thing, Wally, to have to suddenly realize
that, my God, I thought I was living my life, but in fact I haven't been a human being. 
I've been a performer. I haven't been living. I've been acting.

I've, I've acted the role of the father. 
I've acted the role of the husband. 
I've acted the role of the friend. 
I've acted the role of the writer, or director, or what have you.
 I've lived in the same room with this person, 
but I haven't really seen them. 
I haven't really heard them. 
I haven't really been with them. 

Yeah, I know some people are just sometimes... uh, existing just side by side. I mean, the other person's, face could just turn into a great wolf's face... and, it just wouldn't be noticed. 

And it wouldn't be noticed, no. 
It wouldn't be noticed. 
I mean, when I was in Israel a little while ago... 
I mean, I have this picture of Chiquita 
that was taken when she... 
I always carry it with me. 
It was taken when she was about 26 or something. 
And it's in summer, and she's stretched out on a terrace
in this sort of old-fashioned long skirt that's kind of pulled up. 
And she's slim and sensual and beautiful. 

And I've always looked at that picture 
and just thought about just how sexy she looks. 

And then last year in Israel, I looked at the picture... 
and I realized that that face in the picture 
was the saddest face in the world. 

That girl at that time was just lost... 
so sad and so alone. 

I've been carrying this picture for years 
and not ever really seeing what it is, you know. 
I just never really looked at the picture. 

And then, at a certain point, I realised 
I'd just gone for a good 18 years unable to feel
except in the most extreme situations. 

I mean, to some extent, 
I still had the ability to live in my work. 
That was why I was such a work junkie. 
That was why I felt that every play that I did 
was a matter of my life or my death. 
But in my real life, I was dead. 
I was a robot. 

I mean, I didn't even allow myself 
to get angry or annoyed. 

I mean, you know, today Chiquita, Nicolas, Marina... 
All day long, as people do, 
they do things that annoy me 
and they say things that annoy me. 

And today I get annoyed. 

And they say, 
"Why are you annoyed?" 
And I say, 
"Because you're annoying." you know. 

And when I allowed myself to consider the possibility
of not spending the rest of my life with Chiquita... 

I realized that what I wanted most in life 
was to always be with her. 
But at that time, I hadn't learned 
what it would be like to let yourself 
react to another human being. 

And if you can't react to Another Person,
then there's no possibility of action or interaction. 
And if there isn't, I don't really know what the word "Love" means
except Duty, Obligation, Sentimentality, Fear. 

I mean... I don't know about you, Wally, but I... 
I just had to put myself 
into 
a kind of training program 
to learn 
How to Be A Human Being. 

I mean, How Did I Feel 
About Anything? 

I Didn't Know. 

What kind of things did I like? 
What kind of people did I really want to be with? You know? 

And the only way that I could think of 
to find out was to just cut out all the noise 
and stop performing all the time 
and just listen to what was inside me

See, I think a time comes 
when you need to do that. 

Now, maybe in order to do it, you have to go to the Sahara... and maybe you can do it at home. But you need to cut out the noise. Yeah. Of course, personally, I, I just... I usually don't like those quiet moments, you know. I really don't. I mean, I don't know if it's that, Freudian thing or what... But, you know, the fear of unconscious impulses... or my own aggression or whatever, but... if things get too quiet, and I find myself just, sitting there... you know, as we were saying before... 

I mean, whether I'm by myself, or, or I'm, I'm with someone else... 
I just, I just have this feeling of... my God, I'm going to be revealed. In other words, I'm adequate to do any sort of a task... but I'm not adequate, just to, to be a human being. I mean, in other words, I'm not... If l'm just, trapped there and I'm not allowed to do things... but all I can do is just, be there... well, I'll just fail

Tuesday 19 October 2021

1981









I was beginning to realise that the only way to make this evening bearable would be to 
Ask André A Few Questions. 

Asking Questions 
always relaxes me.

In fact, I sometimes think that 
my secret profession is that 
I'm a Private Investigator, 
A Detective. 

I always enjoy 
finding out about People. 
Even if they're in absolute agony
I always find it very interesting.



 The Life of a Playwright is tough
It's not easy, as some people seem to think. 
 
You work hard writing plays, 
and nobody puts them on. 
 
You take up other lines of work to try to make A Living... 
I became An Actor... 
and people don't hire you. 
 
So you just spend your days doing the errands of your trade. Today I'd had to be up by 10:00 in The Morning
to make some important phone calls. 
 
Then I'd gone to the stationery store to buy envelopes. 
Then to the Xerox shop. There were dozens of things to do. 
By 5:00pm I'd finally made it to The Post Office,
and mailed off several copies of my plays --
meanwhile checking constantly with my answering service
to see if my agent had called with any acting work. 
 
In The Morning, The Mailbox 
had just been stuffed with bills.
 What was I supposed to do
How was I supposed to pay them? 
After all, I was already doing My Best. 
 
I've lived in This City all My Life. 
I grew up on The Upper East Side,
and when I was 10 years old, I was rich
I was an aristocrat, riding around in Taxis, 
surrounded by Comfort,
and all I thought about was Art and Music. 
 
Now I'm 36, and all I think about is Money
 
It was now 7:00pm and I would have liked nothing better 
than to Go Home and have My Girlfriend Debby
cook me a nice, delicious dinner. 
 
But for the last several years 
our financial circumstances have forced Debby 
to work three nights a week as a waitress. 
 
After all, somebody had to bring in a little Money. 
So I was on My Own. 
 
But The Worst Thing of All was 
that I'd been trapped by 
an odd series of circumstances 
into agreeing to have Dinner with 
A Man I'd been avoiding literally for years. 
 
His Name was André Gregory. 
At one time he'd been a very close friend of mine, 
as well as My Most Valued Colleague in The Theatre. 
 
In fact, he was 
The Man Who Had First Discovered Me,
and put one of My Plays on the professional stage.
 
When I'd known André, he'd been at the height of his career as a theater director 
 
The amazing work he did with his company the Manhattan Project... Had just stunned audiences throughout the world. But then something had happened to André, He dropped out of the theater. He sort of disappeared, For months at a time, his family seemed only to know that he was traveling... In some odd place like Tibet... which was really weird because he loved his wife and children. He never used to like to leave home at all, Or else you'd hear that someone had met him at a party and he'd been telling people... that he talked with trees or something like that. 
 
Obviously, Something Terrible 
had happened to André --
 
The whole idea of meeting him made me very nervous. 
 
I mean, I really wasn't up for that sort of thing, 
I had problems of my own
 
I mean, I couldn't help André. 
 
Was I supposed to be A Doctor, or what? 
 
Sir, My Name is Wallace Shawn. 
I'm expected at the table of André Gregory. 
 
That table will be a moment, sir. 
If you like, you may have a drink at the bar. - Good evening, sir. 
 
Could I have a club soda, please? 
 
I'm sorry, sir. We only serve Source de Pavilion. 
 
Oh, that'd be fine, thank you. 
 
When I'd called André, 
and he'd suggested that we meet in this particular restaurant, 
I'd been rather surprised, because André's taste 
used to be very ascetic... 
Even though people have always known that he had some money somewhere. 
I mean, how the hell else could he have been flying off to Asia 
and so on, and still have been supporting His Family? 
 
The reason I was meeting André was that 
an acquaintance of mine, George Grassfield
had called me and just insisted that I had to see him.
 
 Apparently, George had been walking his dog in an odd section of town the night before, 
and he'd suddenly come upon André... leaning against a crumbling old building and sobbing
 
André had explained to George that he'd just been watching the Ingmar Bergman movie  
Autumn Sonata about 25 blocks away, 
and he'd been seized by a fit of ungovernable crying 
when The Character played by Ingrid Bergman had said... 
"I could always live in My Art, 
but never in My Life." 
 
Wally! 
 
Wow.
My God. 
 
I remember, when I first started 
working with André's company... 
I couldn't get over the way the actors 
would hug when they greeted each other. 
 
"Wow. Now I'm really 
in The Theater," I thought. 
 
Well, you look Terrific. 
 
 
Well, I feel Terrible.