Curtain Call

Curtain call

I love theater, though I’m not an actress.  I can put on a good act I have a tendency to show like everything is fine when inside I’m a mess of emotions.  So in a sense, I guess I am an actress!

 I’m starring the role of a PSCing wife all while playing mom to 4 busy kids. Im pretty certain it’s not going to make it to the box office or Broadway, but the script is pretty interesting.

I’ve made the hair and makeup and costumes easy...workout clothes, rubber gloves and a messy bun. I may throw on the occasional hoodie and maybe a pair of earrings and mascara, possibly a ball cap.

The piles of papers, stacks of laundry, mounds of donations, and bags of sale items make the stage a perfect setting for this down to earth and very REAL “play.”  The best part about it all...the leading roles haven’t even auditioned.  They know the script well, no rehearsal is necessary.  They’ll come in having mastered their roles.  Boxes, tape, and packing paper are the only props they’ll need.  The show won’t last long, on stage.  All the prep and beside the scenes work will be over in a flash.

For this particular show, the curtain call comes before the opening act.  The curtain-less walls and window are what really set the stage.  As soon as the curtains are down, we know THE SHOW MUST GO ON.  

It’s the empty walls that make this a tearjerker.  Our voices and cries carry and echo off the space we once called our (home) stage.  Instead of applause, the audience is wearing.  The little understudies are confused by the change of their scripts, as am I.  Despite the size of our tiny theater, we’ve rehearsed for nearly three years and we really don’t want opening day.  We need more practice and time with the cast.

Before we know it, our stage is cleared, empty.  We have no audience.  We’re being picked up by another theater, across the ocean.  We know the 6 of us are being cast for an upcoming show in DC, but we haven’t read the script, we’ve don’t even know where we’ll hold our auditions or practices.  The curtains that once housed us are in a box, on a boat.  

We’re grateful for our time starring in Japan, but even more grateful for our director and stage manager (God) for casting us here.  Though we have no idea what our next play bill will read we know our director has a great one on the horizon. Advance ticket sales start now.

To all my fellow cast members, break a leg!

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:1q