made my way out of Philly on Sunday. Hallelujah. (Not that I have anything against Philly, but things have gotten pretty stressful there.) I headed to Brooklyn to visit my brother, Stephen. Took some photos on the way.
Chapterhouse again … (still in Philly)
Monday morning was raining buckets, but that didn’t stop the coffee-quest. I dropped into D’Amico Foods for some freshly roasted beans and a bagel, before settling into the decidedly Frenchy Cafe Pedlar. You know they’re serious because of the bags of Stumptown Beans (roasted just a couple of days previous) for sale at the counter.
Cafe Pedlar in Red Hook …
Later in the day we got pizza, and then Stephen drove us through some fairly industrial streets to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty from the Louis Valentino Jr. pier.
Of course, in my 48 hours in the city, I made 3 separate stops at Joe the Art of Coffee. Once, I even got a table. I sat for about an hour, reading about Joe Papp and getting inspired.
If there is a single driving force which characterizes the New York Shakespeare Festival, it is the continual confrontation with the wall that separates vast numbers of people from the arts. That wall – spawned by poverty, ignorance, historical conditions – is our principal opponent, and as we joust and engage with this “enemy” we distill and shape the nature and style of our theater.
Wow, Joe. That’s beautiful. Isn’t that just beautiful?