Have you noticed how the standing ovation is abused these days?  It seems every performance I've been to in the last few years ended with the audience jumping to their feet at the end.   I remember how the ovation used to be reserved for a truly great event, one that essentially moves you so much or astounds you with its technical mastery to such a degree you HAVE to stand.  Now you see them at preschoolers' dance recitals!   Does anyone agree that an ovation starts to mean less the more you do it?

However ... I saw a performance that truly deserved the ovation it got this last weekend.   I saw the play "Coriolanus" performed at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City.  If you want to see riveting theater, go see this.  If you don't like Shakespeare or think the language is too flowery to understand, go see this.  The actors are brilliant in getting the point across.  They perform amazing athletic feats (sword fighting) and expend tremendous energy in spitting out those words that are hundreds of years old and foreign to our ears.  Every costume, lighting detail and staging decision was given such attention ... and came out beautifully.  Add to that a beautiful evening in the open-air theater much like the original Globe Theater, and you have a winning performance.

I gladly got to my feet at the end, and can't wait to get to another performance there.  Way to go, Cedar City!  You definitely have a treasure in your backyard. 

-Erika Edberg