Seeing Jake Gyllenhaal Meditate on the “Terror of Loving,” Plus Top-Notch Polish Soup

I’d write that this was another big day, but every day this week is a big day. So how about a star-studded one?

First up was my rescheduled Broadway date with a New York Times theater critic. The critic was now Laura Collins-Hughes, but the play was still “Sea Wall / A Life,” a pair of monologues starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge, at the Hudson Theatre. We caught the afternoon matinee performance.

It was a delight to watch the twin monologues, which are both standalone performances by a single actor, unspool. Sturridge goes first, then there’s an intermission, then Gyllenhaal closes the show out.

It’s amazing how Gyllanhaal can hold an audience in the palm of his hand sans a set, with only a spotlight (and sometimes not even that) in “A Life." The monologue interweaves the death of his character’s father and the birth of his first child. Anyone who’s ever watched a parent die and felt helpless, or tackled fatherhood for the first time with a bundle of nerves as a carry-on (or, God forbid, done both simultaneously), needs to see this.

Sturridge’s delivery of “Sea Wall” was also, of course, heartbreaking. He plays a husband and father who narrates the story of an ill-fated seaside holiday, and the catastrophe that upends it.

Gyllenhaal’s monologue was my favorite of the two. He called his monologue a meditation on the “terror of loving” in an interview with The New York Times, and also talked about how he deals with being so open on stage, and navigating the challenge of playing a father and a mother when he is neither. Both Sturridge and Gyllenhaal are vulnerable and raw on stage — a play about toxic masculinity, this pairing definitely is not.

It was also great to meet The Times's Laura Collins-Hughes — she confirmed that Ben Brantley’s lack of note-taking is indeed unusual (and impressive), and proceeded to take copious notes. It’s also pretty much impossible to tell what Ben thinks of a play when you’re sitting next to him, but Laura’s laughs were much more scrutable.

I also got to keep my press ticket from this one! Ben must’ve had physical tickets to “The Black Clown” when I saw the show with him, but I never saw mine — I’m pretty sure they just recognized him at the door.

Both my theatrical ridealongs this summer were amazing experiences! It’s too bad I didn’t get the chance to meet Jesse Green, but clearly I’ll have to take a rain check — just another reason I’ll have to come back to NYC. :)

After the show, I headed back to the New York Times offices, where I finally met Scott Heller, The Times’s theater editor. As you can imagine, after having seen nearly 30 shows this summer, conversation wasn't exactly in short supply.

I also met up with Julia Jacobs, a general-assignment culture reporter at The Times who started at the paper as a reporting intern on the Express desk (basically the equivalent of the Indianapolis Star’s “NOW” digital team I reported for last year).

I got to talk to her about my favorite story of hers, a Central Park mohawked duck story from last fall, which I remembered reading when it published and recently realized she wrote! We commiserated about trying to find any excuse, as primarily digital reporters, to flee the office for the field. :)

And finally (before I take you on a final epic food adventure to Brooklyn), a few stories I edited tonight:

Linking to IndyStar stories is becoming part of my nightly editing routine, and the latest example was this piece about Simone Biles’s inability to trust U.S.A. Gymnastics to protect her. And I've edited many New York Times shooting stories this week, but this one features some real-life heroes. Plus, winter is coming ... to Netflix.

And today in food: I might’ve found the best deal in Brooklyn, which is saying something. Look how much food this is!

The above is the white borscht soup from Karczma, a Polish restaurant in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, a.k.a. NYC’s Polish enclave. This thicc soup (yes, I know millennial slang) is served hot in a bread bowl, and accompanied by a plate of bacon-topped mashed potatoes. It’s rich and creamy, with glorious hunks of smoked kielbasa, hard-boiled egg, and boiled potato. The crusty loaf is also the world’s best soup vessel. It’s like a soft and salty dessert. The best part: It only costs $5.75!

The bread bowl reminds me of rye Jewish Reuben bread, and the kielbasa tastes like Andouille sausage. I’m pretty sure I would live here if I were in NYC for the winter. However, one caveat: Eating the entire bread bowl was a mistake. I wanted to drain an industrial-sized trough of water afterward. If it weren’t for that, I’d be immediately rearranging my schedule to figure out how to get to Brooklyn one last time and order this again. #Oops

Up next tomorrow: “Phantom of the Opera,” at long, long last! I even fanagled a front-row seat that didn’t cost me an entire paycheck, which will be the closest seat I’ve ever seen my favorite show from (clearly, I saved the best for last).