Equus

I warned Beth

That she was on thin ice

I’d been going to the Orpheus Theater

Since the beginning

Since Beau started it

Before they even had a space

It had been thirteen years at that point

And going into the thirteenth season

I told Beth that the subscriber base

Was not happy

Now, I was not Queen of the Subscribers

But I was a loyal audience member

And I did feel

That my voice

Should be heard

I’m no actor

I’m no director

I’m no artist

But actors and artists

Don’t keep themselves in business

Now do they?

Beth wanted the thirteenth season opener

To be Equus

And I said I didn’t think it was a good idea

Nudity, religious fervor

Horse puppets

It all just seemed like too much

For the type of audience

That was going to the theater at that point

Back when it was theater in the parking garage

It was okay to test the waters

But success means appealing

To a broad spectrum

‘You’re the Artistic Director of a highly reputable theater, my dear,’ I said to Beth, ‘You can’t go around acting like you’re running the black box at a community college.’

Oh, she didn’t like that

It’s always funny to me

That artists love expressing themselves

But they hate it when non-artists do

I told Beth that there had been rumblings

That certain factions in town

Were trying to get the theater shut down

For putting on depraved and inappropriate material

It may have sounded like the 1800’s

Instead of the late 1970’s

But a small town is a small town

I told Beth I’d try to protect her and the theater

Because both were near and dear to my heart

But…

There was only so much I could do

If she wasn’t willing to listen

She informed me

She was going to do as she pleased

And if I didn’t like it

I could cancel my subscription

So I went one of those groups that wanted to close the theater

The one all the actors called ‘The Merry Widows’

And I told them about Equus

About its content

And of course, they were very upset

They started putting the wheels in motion

To really shut the doors of the theater

And at that point

It was out of my hands

There was one valuable lesson

Beth never learned

She never accepted the fact

That it’s all about the audience

But…I suppose

Some people have to learn things

The hard way