Those silly Russians

The theater season has officially begun!  Which means one of my favorite Friday routines is back:

Step 1:  Leave work early (i.e., at 6pm) and have dinner at Le Pain Quotidien while reading the French translation of a ridiculous "Swedish noir" crime novel.

Open-faced sandwich with avocado and prosciutto
(the prosciutto had been cooked so it was crspy like bacon -- SO delicious)
and a cup of vegan mixed vegetable soup

Step 2:  Walk over to the Shakespeare Theatre and pick up my tickets.  Last night my ticket came with a gift bag containing a special "we love subscribers" mug.  Aww.

Step 3:  Show time!  In this case, it was a production of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector, a madcap satire that lampoons the corruption, hypocrisy, greed and loose morals of 19th-century Russian society.  This adaptation was hilarious and felt very current with today's American society (I'm curious just how many of those themes are in the original and how many were updated by the adapter).  I've never been a fan of Russian literature (essentially I feel an irrational aversion to the Russians that is equal and opposite to my affection for the French) but this show made me think I should revisit the question...

This is my third year as a subscriber to the STC, so seeing the "regulars" in the company felt kind of like seeing a bunch of old friends again.