After watching nearly twenty shows during The first week of FringeNYC, just about everything looks like a play. Our trip to Provincetown yesterday was no exception. It had the characteristic of a play by a younger playwright. The characters and setting were well developed but the plot seemed to meander without direction.

The first scene was in a small shack on the peer where a young carver plied his wares. Geoff Semonian, the son of a machinist who had rented this space from the town as the they sought to bring the arts. The rent was low but the applications were juried. The town wanted artists with enough inventory to make it through the summer and a willingness to be open seven days a week on top of a fine artistic sensibility.

The town made a wise choise in selecting Geoff with one exception. His sales were stronger than he annticipated and his carvings did not last the season. During the final days of the season he is only selling as quickly as he can carve, and he's built up a good list of orders for the fall.

We had a great discusion about his work as he painted a few new pieces. Working in wood with a tolerance of a sixteenth of an inch is relaxation compared to trying to get stainless steel to a thousandth of an inch.

The underlying theme was creativity. To often, people do not think about the creativity inherent in trades other than their own, and Geoff serves as a reminder to all of us about the value of creativity in all walks of life.

The second act began in line for the whale watch. Fiona struck up a discussion with Christina, a middle school teacher from Long Island and her husband, a New York City fire fighter. It was her first whale watch and she was concerned about seasickness as well as how many whales they would see.

The weather was predicted to be rough but it turned out to not be as rough as expected and we saw plenty of whales.

After viewing the Provincetown Peer we headed back to the camp where Fiona did her radio show; reviewing the events of the day. Then we settled down to a wonderful meal of home made clam chowder.

Provincetown Peer is a production well worth seeing, especiall if it can be topped off by some great clam chowder.