“Love, Sex and the IRS” is a silly name for a play.  I just saw the play at The Wade James Theatre, which most everyone I know calls The Driftwood Theatre.

I think I’m finally straight on the fact that it is the actors who are The Driftwood Players. 

My friends and I still are inclined to say to one another, “Hey, did you see the play that’s running at the Driftwood?"   (Wade James, I have learned, was the theatre architect and late Driftwood Players member and volunteer, who well deserved the honor of having the theatre named after him.)

Tonight I saw “Love, Sex and the IRS” during its final weekend.  It was howlingly funny practically every minute.  It would have been funny anywhere, but to have it be funny in my own hometown? 

I came home wondering why I ever miss a play there.  (For $100, anyone can view an entire season of plays.)

How grand an entertainment it is to go to a local theatre and watch a local theatre group present something they hope will please you. 

They move about the stage with their hearts exposed to a roomful (Please, God, let there be a roomful!) of mostly strangers. 
Strangers may or may not laugh, may or may not be touched by what goes on up on that stage. They are different from relatives and friends of the actors, who can be counted upon to behave well and applaud wildly.

Strangers can turn ugly and sit in their theatre seats with their arms crossed, rudely whispering to one another, “Is this thing ever going to end?”

I think that’s rare, though, as theatergoers seem inclined to choose to have a good time.  Clearly, everyone was having fun tonight.

“Love, Sex and the IRS” was totally delightful.  I would guess that any heavy issues theatergoers brought with them evaporated during the first scene. It was exactly the sort of evening I had in mind. 

I’ve also enjoyed performances I’ve attended at The Phoenix Theatre in Firdale Village.

And though it doesn’t provide live entertainment, the downtown Edmonds Theatre is a grand part of our community, showing current films—at reasonable prices-- in a cool old theatre I remember from childhood. 

And of course, our Edmonds Center for Performing Arts offers a variety of fine entertainment.

Big glitzy expensive musicals in Seattle are a great (rare) treat. But the drive? The parking? Or riding the #358 bus, late at night?
 
The Village Theatre performances in Everett provide another option, costing less than Seattle plays and offering nearby parking, but it's a bit of a distance.

A lovely, hometown option? On a chilly spring evening, I attended a wonderfully silly play at The Wade James Theatre, just up Main Street in Edmonds. 

Afterwards, still smiling, I stepped out of the theatre into the rainy darkness.  And what good fortune: I was only a one-mile drive from home!  Can you beat that?