Tuesdays With Morrie: Much More Than Just a Play
University can be crazy. It’s this amazing, overwhelming place where you are expected to balance schoolwork and a social life, while also staying sane and remembering to feed and bathe yourself. In the midst of all that craziness, I find the most important thing for me to do is breathe and do something that brings me back to a more relaxed state, a state where I can properly prioritize what’s really important.The first week of school can be the most daunting, and with a newly sprained ankle, getting through it was an even harder task than I thought. I knew I just needed to do something for myself, but I didn’t quite know what. That is, until I found out that Tuesdays with Morrie was being performed at the Thousand Islands Playhouse Springer Theatre in Gananoque.Based on the memoir by Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie depicts the relationship between a Brandeis University professor and his favourite student, following how they lose touch and are reunited after many years of no communication. Due to the minimalist stage design and cast of only two actors, the audience really gets to know both characters on a deep level, insecurities and all. Throughout the characters’ relationship, important lessons of forgiveness and how to truly live a fulfilling and meaningful life are presented in a hilarious yet reflective way.It is one of those shows that truly gets you thinking about how you deal with every situation you experience in your life. In some scenes, I did not feel as if I was watching a performance, but almost like I was watching different segments of my life unfold before my eyes.
In kindergarten, we learn some of the most crucial and simple rules of life. Somewhere along the way, a lot of people forget the importance of forgiveness, not holding grudges, and steering clear from things that do not make them happy. These seem like simple, obvious practices, but they are easy to ignore in the midst of our busy lives. Tuesdays with Morrie was a reminder of what is really important: the simple, beautiful aspects of life that are right in front of our eyes, but often unseen.University can be crazy. But it is also a place to grow, discover yourself, and keep working on who and what you want to become. Whether it is music, performances, fashion, or writing — anything at all that inspires and pushes you can be an aid in this time of discovery. It’s always the simple things, after all.For more information about shows playing this season at Thousand Islands Playhouse, click here.Yours creatively,Erez Zobary, Online ReviewerImages: Jay Bridges for Thousand Islands Playhouse
