Actors Forum Theatre

I love live theater, especially now that it is officially fall. There’s something about cooler nights that conjure up images of huddling in a darkened, small theater – the immediacy and intimacy make for warmth of the thermal and emotional kind.
A gentleman friend and I went last Saturday night to the Actors Forum Theater in North Hollywood, one of the many tiny production houses in the NoHo Arts District. This play was «The Belle of Amherst,» a one-​woman production channeling the presence, personality, and poetry of Emily Dickinson. Kate Randolph Burns did a superb job in her white Victorian dress and broach, and I think would do well if she could make the rounds of local high schools in this persona. She could introduce a whole new generation of English students to such a forward-​thinking author.
One thing about the theater — don’t try to park on the side behind the gate. Street parking around there, especially in the evening, is sufficient.
I got a huge laugh out of going into the ladies’ room before the show. On the wall directly in front of the toilet is a photo of Victorian ladies in tutus, «mooning» the camera. Above it was a sign, «Please do not flush during the performance.» Given the tiny size of the theater, and its adjacency to the bathroom, I can see why!