You say a theatre is "dark" when it is closed and many theatres are dark these days, because the coronavirus has made us isolate ourselves in order to protect people in our community. The theatre needs community because, unlike other forms of drama, it requires people there both on stage and in the audience, sharing the experience. To me (and obviously I am biased), it is the most glorious art form for that very reason. It is a shared experience. Everyone who works on the play works together. They face challenges and they overcome them. Every show is only as good as the weakest link. You rise to the occasion. You figure out solutions to a myriad of problems. And then the audience comes in and together you make something happen. They laugh and the people on stage hear it and love it and want more of it and work harder to get it.
One time, I played Lady Macbeth in a small theatre and the guy who was playing Macbeth staggered on stage after having killed Duncan and his hands and face were covered in blood and I was close enough to see a lady in the first row recoil when she saw him. It was fantastic, because it was a real, honest reaction to the story and the horror of it and also to the fact that she was right there and might have thought that somehow the blood would get on her clothes. You can't get that in a movie, or on tv, or with Netflix.
I was in a production of "The Playboy of the Western World" (written by J.M. Synge) in university. I played Pegeen and the play starts with me, alone on stage, figuring out what I need for my wedding dress. I had worked hard to master the accent and it was a big role for me and I was really excited. I would sit on stage before the curtain went up and hear the audience talking and then quieting down as the lights went down and the curtain started to move. These were some of the most supreme moments of my life -- a great play, a great role, me -- young and full of ambition and hope for the future. On opening night, there was a guy in the front row and he laughed all through my opening monologue, which was not remotely funny in my mind. I went backstage at the interval and of course, my acting teacher (who I loved and revered) said the old saw, "if they laugh, it's a comedy".
We are still not sure what next week or the weeks that follow will hold for us. As most of you know, I really like school and would like to get back to class as soon as possible, but I also usually wish for just a few more days of holidays right at the end of the allotted time, so this year, it looks like I will get my wish. I will try to keep you on the drama class track through this blog if we try to go with online learning, so keep checking in with me.
Here's a bit of a poem that says something to us in these days of uncertainty and upset:
The People Will Live On
by Carl Sandburg
The people will live on.
The learning and blundering people will live on.
They will be tricked and sold and again sold
And go back to the nourishing earth for rootholds,
The people so peculiar in renewal and comeback,
You can't laugh off their capacity to take it.
The mammoth rests between his cyclonic dramas.
The people so often sleepy, weary, enigmatic,
is a vast huddle with many units saying:
"I earn my living,
I make enough to get by
and it takes all my time.
If I had more time
I could do more for myself
and maybe for others.
I could read and study
and talk things over
and find out about things.
It takes time.
I wish I had the time.
The rest is great, too, but you can look it up. But if you wish you had more time, here you go. Read, study, find out about something that you're curious about. See if anyone needs your help. If you can't think of something to find out about, look up Carl Sandburg. He was a very interesting guy and a very successful writer and poet. You could memorize this bit of the poem. Learning things by heart is great exercise for your brain.
Happy World Theatre Day!
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