“See you at the Nudist Colony,” says John.
This rainy Saturday afternoon happened in the last days of the lockdown. Still no gatherings allowed. John Drehner and I were so bored, we came up with this brilliant idea: “Let’s do Shakespeare in the Park!” I suggested. He’d do the acting, I’d be his audience of one. The governor couldn’t object to a crowd of one.
Drehner’s a retired mail carrier whom friends know for playing bit parts in a ton of Shakespeare plays right here in Balboa Park, ever since the 1990s. His more famous portrayals include the gravedigger in Hamlet and the porter in Macbeth, small but funny roles to relieve the tensions of the plots.