More Fun in SF

Lest you think we only attended the Noir City film festival while I was in SF (if you do, then you underestimate Bub), we also went to the American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.) to see the W. Somerset Maugham play "The Circle". We saw "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" about a year ago and it was a romp, well-acted with lots of great one-liners, so I was looking forward to this (although, okay, I'll admit I didn't know he was also a playwright. I bet you didn't know he worked for British intelligence in Russia during the Revolution - okay, I didn't know that either until I just read the bio.)

It certainly didn't disappoint; not that one can compare the two, really, but I preferred it to "Sexual Perversity". While not going into a re-hash of the plot, it's about marriage and family and infidelity and chasing "true love". A mother who abandoned her husband and son for the love of her life comes back for a visit while the now-grown son's wife is contemplating leaving him for another man; hilarity ensues. Superbly well-acted, the actors all had wonderfully full roles to play. Throw in a number of pithy lines (in the style of, but not quite like, Oscar Wilde, about the institution of marriage and love). I loved that I thought I saw the ending well in advance (which I usually think I do and then convince myself I'm really good at this sort of thing) and it surprised me. The run ends this weekend, so pity you probably won't make it.

(photo courtesy of Bub's phone; the ceiling of the A.C.T.)