Theatrical Thoughts

Time: October 20, 1990
Place: Las Positas College
Role: Deputy
Director: Ken Ross

About half asleep is about how I was each time we read "The Crucible " growing up in school. I found it just plain boring. However, this time it was on stage, and since I was an "actor," I had to audition. I wasn't offered a very big part, in fact I think I only had two lines. I guess the director felt pity and somehow he managed to get me two more lines. I was quite thankful, but I'm not sure the other actor enjoyed having his line count truncated. I don't count lines any more. But when it's your first drama, and you've got more fingers on one hand than lines, you tend to count them. Four was the magic number.

I got two great things out of "The Crucible." The first thing was getting to work with some very talented actors. I learned a lot watching them perform and examining their different styles. One actor stayed in character the entire time, on stage and off. It really did seem to help him as the performance he gave was very impressive. The second thing was friendship. I made some friends in that show that lasted a long, long time. Years later, I even came close to marrying one of the girls I dated.

The four lines were a bit fun, almost too fun. For whatever reason, one of the girls. No, make that several of the girls had fun teasing and joking about those lines. I did in fact have to make them 'great lines' I put everything I had and more into saying "You cannot go in there Giles! It's a courtroom". I don't think any other bailiff in history has ever said it with such vigor. But all this led to more joking and having fun with it. Unfortunately, the joking made these lines more difficult to say on stage. I kept feeling the urge to giggle and laugh. And in some plays, that's okay. But we were dealing with witch hunts, hanging, and murder and such. I didn't think laughing quite fit the mood. My only solution was to completely avoid eye contact with the other actress on stage. I have a feeling her urge to giggle was just as strong.