Organized Culture

Last week I had the pleasure of watching Othello in the park in Greenwich.  The pleasure was heightened because the event was so well organized.

To be honest, I was in no mood to go because I had just finished a day of physically and mentally draining work and I just wanted to relax, but I had made a promise to my wife.  I needed the event to be easy and relaxing.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was both.

I have experienced far too many events that have “done me bold and saucy wrongs.”  They are intended to be fun and relaxing, but just aren’t.  The culprit: disorganization.  Mostly it’s about the need to establish simple boundaries.

Our theater was an open field, which could have meant open chaos.  Instead, simple paths were mapped out with secured rope.  There was a well-marked section in front for people with blankets, a well-marked section behind that for people with low chairs, and the same in the back for people with full-sized chairs.  If there was any question about whether a chair was blocking someone’s view, there were actually attendees with yardsticks to monitor the situation.  As a result EVERYBODY could enjoy the performance.

What strikes me is that it doesn’t take much to make a potentially chaotic situation into a pleasant one.   Take, for example, ordering food from a deli.  The simple take-a-number system means that people can relax while they are waiting, because there can be no dispute over who was there first.

Beside the well-sectioned audience, there was plenty of garbage cans that were well delineated between recycling and regular trash.   And miracle of miracles people didn’t feel the need to litter!

I thought there was still a pretty good possibility the lovely evening would be spoiled in a traffic jam out of the parking lot, but no.  There were policemen directing traffic and we were on our way home within just a few minutes.  Smooth as silk!

We’ve got Macbeth this week in Stamford.  I’m not sure if it’s indoors or outdoors.  If it’s anything like our Greenwich experience, I’ll look forward to it either way.