Student Matinee

STUDENT MATINEE

Feb. 12, 2008

Up at 8 am for a 10:30 student matinee. One never knows how the little monsters will react. Will they chatter and rustle about? Will they throw things? How many cell phones will go off? Will there be a computer baby crying? (Don’t laugh. I was in one production where there was such a thing.) Thoughts like these can keep one awake the night before. Even the sleeping pill I took was insufficient to drown them out. But the monsters were all angels this day. Actually they were too quiet - they hardly laughed or responded to anything at all. Even when Sir George put his hands on my, ahem, breasts. I had the feeling they had been given the standard “theatre lecture” from their teachers prior to the show and suspected they thought they would be severely beaten if they acted up. Though I’d rather have it quiet out there than obstreperous. And not one cell phone chirped. Not sure whether they enjoyed it or not.

The standard theatres lecture given to students goes something like this: “Please be aware that everything you say can be heard by the actors on stage and can be very disruptive to their concentration.....” Actually there’s a grown up lecture, the “curtain speech,” that some poor member of the Triad staff had to give, live, ever night. There is a similar speech given (unfortunately) in every theatre across this country - either live or taped. “There is no taking of photography or taping allowed, please turn off your cell phones, if you feel a need to have a piece of candy or cough drop please unwrap it now - the loudness of it makes no difference if you do it slowly or quickly - and please be aware that actors make entrances and exits from both sides of the audience so if you’re in the front row, please keep your feet tucked in, or you may become a PART of a Shaw play...” But there are those dolts who pay no attention and cell phones do go off during the run, and candy and cough drops ARE opened, and people DO stick their feet out in front of them.

Where was I? Ah yes. Came home after the student show and cleaned our two apartments as we have guests coming tomorrow, Fri. and Sat..


SECOND SHOW

Very tough for me and Rand. Easier to do two shows with only a couple of hours in between rather than a seven hour lay off. Was doing pretty well ‘til the last part of the last act and then could NOT get the words out of my mouth. It wasn’t so much that I forgot the line as I just couldn’t get my tongue around Shaw’s words. At one point I started to salivate (who knows why?) And was trying to contain my spit. When you’re driving a scene you must dict like crazy, especially with Shavian language - for you are not only dealing with an accent, but language that is uncommon to a modern ear. So you must use every inch of your mouth and tongue to get those words out so that they’re understood as much as possibly by an audience. And when you’re really enunciating and pushing those words (those consonants forward), you tend to spit. Can’t be helped.

But I got to a point where I was almost foaming at the mouth and felt I had to draw back and take a swallow or two - which I did.

It’s amazing that you can do this night after night and still - suddenly - blow a line or two or three. Well, when you’ve this many lines perhaps it’s understandable. Shaw ain’t easy. And when you’re tired, who knows what will come out of your mouth. Or won’t.