A couple of years ago, my sister gave me this book for Christmas. It’s a short, easy to read story about Morrie Schwartz- a professor and one of his students- Mitch Albom. The book is written by Mitch, and recounts the beginning of their friendship at College, through to the last days of Morrie’s life.
I don’t want to ruin too much of the story, so I’ll talk about what I’ve learned from it.
Life can be very confusing and complicated. It’s full of difficult decision that we all have to face- what’s my purpose? what should I study in school? why am I unhappy in my relationship? should I date/marry? what should I do for a living? what will I do if I don’t get…? what will I do if my plans don’t work out?
The list of questions go on…
In the book, Morrie and Mitch talk about life through specific topics- relationships, family, purpose, aging, forgiveness, and death. I think the magic of this book is how Morrie keeps things simple, and breaks things down to the essentials. Most of what he says on a topic fills no more than a few pages, but after reading what he had to say… well I’ll leave it up to you to read his words and see what I mean.
The other great thing about the book is that it’s for everyone. Doesn’t matter what your age, race, or religious background is, the stuff he talks about is universal. Needless to say, the lessons from the book has, I hope, made me and other readers a better person. I highly recommend it.
Melissa, bless her heart, saw that they made the book into a play at the Arts Club on Granville Island. We were interested in seeing how the book was interpreted into a play, so we invited a few friends out to see it… on a Tuesday. 🙂
The stage and props- a couple of chairs, a bed, and a small table. Two actors. Simple and minimal. The result exceeded our expectations. We thought they did a fantastic job of capturing the essence of the book.
The actors played the roles with conviction, charm, and humor. I honestly don’t know how they can rise up and give that level of performance night after night. At the end of the play, all I could hear was dead silence and the sound of noses blowing. Needless to say, an enthusiastic standing ovation from a packed house awaited the actors. It’s held over til August 26th, so please see it with your loved ones… young or old.