well it's been a week and i'm just now feeling able to write about this year's one-act play experience.
our play was called DA. it was written in the 70's by an irish playwright named hugh leonard, and he always claimed this one was his favorite. he got awards for it. it's about a man who goes back home to clean out his parents' house after his father's death. his memories start coming up before his eyes and he interacts with them-- his father, mother, and himself at a younger age.
our cutting of DA was mostly a comedy, though the full-length play is actually quite dark. i must admit that our cutting excluded much of the complication the main character faces in dealing with his past and what he's become. you can understand: when you are cutting something down to 40 minutes, for use by a high school drama troupe, the things you keep tend toward the light.
this year, the state one-act play meet was not at bass concert hall, but at hogg auditorium, right in the middle of the UT campus. we weren't looking forward to this new location-- an older building, a smaller stage. but i must say that hogg was very kind to our play, which lends itself to a more intimate setting. also, being more central on the UT campus, it felt more like being in austin.
like last year, we woke up very early on saturday morning and headed over to load our props and furniture into the back of the theatre. we were reprimanded by the director for having so much stuff. because hogg is such a smaller space than bass, everyone was expected to pare down on set items. our 7-foot rolling prop cabinet had to be removed. there was a meeting with all the casts and directors at 7:30. at 8:45 our official rehearsal began. we were the first to rehearse, since we were the first to perform. our rehearsal went well-- we set up the stage, put spike tape down to indicate where everything should be placed according to the lights, we set sound levels, ran through blocking. a couple of our items were not approved (the holy water font, which i always hated, was made of a ticket-taking cabinet. it was the one thing i had wanted to change but never got changed, until it was un-approved at our rehearsal), so we had to improvise a bit with set pieces. the UIL crew was very helpful, even the man who did not like my vines last year.
we had several hours between rehearsal and performance, during which we ate at stubb's, rested, and did warm-ups. as we waited behind the theatre at 3:30, baking in the sun, some of the other students came to wish everyone broken legs. trevor gave me an amazing bouncy-ball filled with sparkly magenta liquid. for me that ball became an icon representing the entire experience-- there was a certain perfection in it which delighted and encouraged everyone. i know it sounds strange, but for me it was really remarkable: it became a representative of joy, resilience, and the passing nature of everything. it made a strong impression, but at the same time i realized it didn't have long to live. just like the whole experience.
the performance was lovely-- everything went smoothly, nobody fell down, things clicked, and the show ran 38.50 or thereabouts, which is perfect. cy was there, as were a good fan club from churchill.
after loading out of the theatre and back into the moving truck, we gave ourselves a little time to get food in the area, which was when i experienced jamba juice. the smoothie i consumed comes as close to orgasmic as anything i've ever had. maybe my senses were heightened; maybe i was just glad the performance was over. in any case, that smoothie, like that bouncy-ball, rocked my world.
we saw the second session of plays in the evening-- all good productions. the awards ceremony started very soon after the final show was over. we took two "all-star cast" awards and one "honorable mention" award for acting, and we took 2nd place in the competition.
my eyes see clearly. i don't want to go all esoteric on you. right now i feel truly alive. i must always remember this feeling, i tell myself, this is who you really are, an extension of the earth, someone who can appreciate joy and beauty, who is sensitive to struggle and suffering, but has roots deep enough to bend and come back to stretch his arms into the sky.
the amazing bouncy-ball didn't even last a whole week. it was hurled against brick walls, thrown in the football field, squeezed, gazed at, and admired until it passed away quietly in my car on wednesday. i don't have the heart to throw it away. i feel it should be cremated or something. it's pretty funny, how certain objects are endowed and can teach you things. i will never forget this bouncy-ball.
four more weeks of school.
LINCOLNESQUE opens in 5 days.
today i'm going to thrift stores to get pants, shirts, shoes, and suspenders.
barry, if you read this: i tried to send you an email but it got returned. do you have a new email address?
