This will be a Tired Tuesday post. Except that I CAN’T be tired, I have to go to rehearsal! For the sake of anybody just tuning in, I am in the play Roxy, at Ilion Little Theatre.
I spent my breaks at work going over my lines and I seem to know them pretty well. I have something of a reputation for learning all my lines pretty quickly (I know, you thought I was going to say I had a different kind of a reputation, oh you of dirty mind) (you know who you are). I hate to disappoint people.
It isn’t just a generic people-pleasing thing, though. I could do a whole other blog post about being a people pleaser (which I don’t think I am, judging from the number of people who are none too pleased with me most of the time) and whether or not that is a good thing, but that’s not really the dynamic at work here.
I strive to be the sort of cast member that directors, backstage people, and other cast members like to work with. For one reason, it makes things a lot more comfortable if nobody’s mad at you. More to the point, it makes a better play, because the sort of cast member most people like working with is the one who helps make it a better play.
Oh, I can see some of you raising your hands, ready to share with me stories about this or that sonofabitch who you wanted to KILL during rehearsals nonetheless came through and made it the best show ever. The important thing, you are ready to sniff, is not whether or not you get along. The important thing is can you ACT? (You may or may not say “ACT” with a gesture.)
I would argue that theatre is a collaborative art. We produce the best plays when we work well together. Additionally, this is community theatre. We are doing it for fun and for love of theatre. Of course we want to put on the best plays possible (what fun is it to be in a turkey?), but why make the process harder by working with sonsofbitches?
So I try not to be a sonofabitch. I learn my lines. In fact, I’d better go look them over again before tonight’s rehearsal.
Mohawk Valley Girl 