An alien in New York

Okay, it’s a hackneyed phrase but that’s what I am. A visitor, after a break of perhaps 4 years, to a city which feels very familiar but also very foreign. New Yorkers in my experience are friendly, hospitable, entrepreneurial, noisy and fun. It’s seen as a fairly liberal place by much of America and has strong Democrat connections but read the New York Post as I did this morning and you see a different side – insecure, insular, reactionary and still buying the old lie that its somehow a socialist trick to reverse the Bush tax cuts for the super rich despite the hugely wider divergence between rich and poor and the clear lack of the old trickle down effect in recent years.

I’m here because my play The Door is on at 59E59 Theater and it’s going remarkably well , playing to full houses who are lapping it up. It is seen as much more controversial here than it would be in the UK though – not that that’s a bad thing, just another cultural indicator. And while I’m here I’m enjoying it immensely. Enjoying the hospitality, the service culture, the buzz and the friendly faces. And also enjoying the experience of having a play on ‘Off Broadway’. A happy alien.