👋 Hi, I'm Nicholas Roberts. I create and perform music and write this daily blog about creativity, culture, and my life.

I live in Los Angeles with my wife and golden retriever.

Email me: hello@nicholasroberts.io

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Last weekend, I saw a play called Vanya at the Boston Court Theater in Pasadena, a small independent theater that hosts a variety of music, theater, and movie screenings.

And there’s plenty of parking, which automatically makes it a Top 10% LA experience.

I love going to the theater but admit that I know very little about the history of most plays, playwrights, directors, or what goes into making a character come alive.

When I see a concert, I’m in my head. Looking at the amps, pedal boards, and guitar collections behind the stage monitors.

With theater, it’s different. I’m just along for the ride.

For a few days, the Boston Court had a film screening of Vanya from National Theater Live.

In this performance of Vanya, Andrew Scott, best known for his role as the hot priest in Fleabag, delivers an outstanding performance—he plays all seven characters and they all felt like they were right in the room with us.

That’s an electrifying feeling, isn’t it? When you see a show or a movie and feel like the characters are in the room with you?

The play Vanya was originally written in 1899 by Anton Chekhov.

It explores what it means to accomplish or not accomplish something in life. To make something of yourself.

The lead character, Ivan, grapples with the feeling like he's wasted his life away toiling away on the family farm while his father, Aleksander, was an accomplished art scholar and professor, however, he hasn't written anything important for years.

They both lament where things went wrong. How they’ll never amount to anything.

But the play has me reflecting on its themes, days later.

What does it mean to be still? To not strive? To intentionally live a life of un-accomplishment?

Maybe it’s not all so serious.