Tonight's adventure was to drive out to Spring Green to catch American Players Theater's production of Hamlet, with Jim De Vita in the title role.

I drove out with the Jeep top down, cruising in the sunshine. Behind me all the way there was a couple in a convertible, and from the moment I saw them back in the city, I new they'd be going to APT, too. The drive was beautiful and uneventful, and I got there in enough time to eat the picnic lunch that I'd packed. (Mostly stuff from the Farmer's Market yesterday.)

James Ridge was a fabulous Ghost. Properly harrowing. He also played the Player King, which gave a nice continuity to the story. De Vita played Hamlet like he was born for the role. (I know someone else who is born for the role. Maybe someday.) He brooded and stormed, and managed to be quite funny in all of his melancholy. None of the other performances really stood out for me. Not that they were poor, but because Hamlet really stole the show. And, given that the play is called "Hamlet" and that he is rarely not onstage...I'd say that is allowed.

There was a brief interruption...cries of "Is there a doctor in the house?" and "Somebody get an ambulance" came in the middle of Hamlet's soliloquy following the entrance of the Players. Intermission came early, as an old man in one of the front rows had some sort of problem. I never caught what happened, exactly. He was conscious and alert the whole time, but they had him lie down in the aisle until the paramedics arrived. It did look like everything was going to be alright. By the way, there were a lot of doctors in the house.

I was moved to tears by the grief of Hamlet and Laertes over the death of Ophelia. More so knowing that they'd be following her soon.

The drive back was exciting in an "it's very dark and I have the top down, winding country roads at 55 (+) mph in open air, cool wind all around me, warm air coming from the heater by my feet" sort of way, though nothing happened. Wait, I take that back. I did get to see a gigantic moon, rising blood-red over the trees. That was a thrill.