The year: 1991
The setting: Pasadena’s Hastings Ranch theaters
The film: Hamlet, directed by Zeffirelli, starring Gibson, Close, Bates, Scofield, Holm, Bonham Carter, etc.
So, we get to the nunnery scene. Ophelia’s nearly in tears.
One grey-haired Pasadena matron turns to her companion, and says, just above a stage whisper:
“He’s going to drive that poor girl crazy!”
{blink}
Never seen this story before, have you, ma’am?
Lexicon. Wild rephrasing of the original from the movie Chasing Amy:
ββWhatβs a Nubian?ββ¦ Bitch, you almost made me laugh.β
Now, in my defense, this may have been a mashup with a story from my college days. Professor Leonard Pronko put on one of his periodic kabuki productions, this one titled Lancelot Bewitched. The lead, Kevin Costello, was teased by a number of my friends (Mark Vargas, Cathy Kerry, Topher Jaworski, others). Imagine the following delivered to Kevin in the exaggerated style of kabuki:
βThreeeee times! You broke character threeeeee times! And weeee saw you!β
So I may have taken the laughing and the breaking of character, and merged them.
Itβs a theory, anyway.
βItβs discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty, and how few by deceit.β
NoΓ«l Coward
Blithe Spirit
(This is partly a test to see if copy/paste works with formatting intact)