Shakespeare and Mexican Food

When I lived in Henderson, I loved going to the Texas Shakespeare Festival in Kilgore with my mom during the summer. The first play we saw was A Midsummer's Night Dream in 1995, and we attended at least one play almost every summer after that until I began graduate school in 2006. Since moving up to Massachusetts, we haven't been able to go to the plays together, and we've both really missed it.

A few weeks ago I read a review for Shakespeare & Company's production of Twelfth Night in the Globe. The reviewer just raved about the play, so I decided to purchase a ticket for the Saturday matinee performance last weekend. Shakespeare & Company is located in Lenox, which is right at the western edge of Massachusetts in the Berkshires. I left my apartment around 11 a.m. to make the play at 2 p.m. Unfortunately, traffic was backed up on the Pike for the longest time; I kept watching the arrival time on my GPS get later and later as I barely moved in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. By the time the traffic finally cleared out, I could tell that I was going to be several minutes late to the play. I did finally arrive at the theater around 15 minutes late and was able to get a seat near the back of the theater.

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's comedies, and this production was definitely very funny (and bawdy, according to some people I heard talking in the lobby). I was a little confused in the beginning since I had missed the first 15 minutes and hadn't read a synopsis of the play earlier. However, it was interesting just to experience the beauty of Shakespeare's language. All of the actors were just wonderful. I was especially impressed by the woman who played Viola (Cesario). She would throw herself (and have other actors throw her) across the stage, even climbing one of the poles around the stage at one point. Seeing the play made me want to attend more live theater.

After the play ended, I was starving. I had been planning to grab lunch along the way, but when I got stuck in traffic, I decided to just drive on. So I started the return trip on the lookout for something to eat. I took one of the Springfield exits to look for food and somehow ended up at On the Border, the place I had been thinking about eating at the whole day. I gathered up my courage and went in to ask for a table for one. Even though the enchiladas weren't as good as others I have had, they still tasted wonderful after the long day. I also really enjoyed the chips and hot sauce and the Dr. Pepper.

After leaving On the Border, I headed back home to Natick. Even though I was a little late to the play, the day definitely turned out to be a good adventure.

Shakespeare and Mexican food . . . what's better than that?