| I like amateur theater for the same reason I like high school football. Anything can happen. Professionals on the boards and on the gridiron are usually too polished, too careful to get themselves into real trouble. But in high school? Players, whether on the field or in the footlights, are capable of astonishing accomplishments, and just as spectacular goof-ups, because they pour their hearts out into what they are doing, come what may. For every story of a jaw-dropping football interception, last-moment or game-winning throw for the hoop in basketball, or kicking the ball into the wrong goal in soccer, there are equally inspiring and embarrassing experiences onstage. I remember the time when I offered up a toast with a plastic champagne glass, and the base fell off, fluttering to the floor with a clatter. The audience snickered, but one actor chimed in, "What interesting champagne glasses you have, my dear Count." And the play went on. Then there was the time during a scene of "You Can't Take It With You," where I was supposed to separate a wrestler from my would-be father-in-law. I caught an elbow to the chin, back-pedaled and saw stars. I put my fist up to my jaw and it came away drenched with blood. I've always felt that facial cuts bleed a lot more than they really have to. I pressed my palm to my chin for the rest of the scene in order to staunch the flow. I must have looked very thoughtful, standing there. Once offstage, the stage manager handed me a band-aid, and I finished the matinee. My mother was working, so my sister-in-law took me to the doctor, who sutured me up. Trust me, it's more fun to leave the audience in stitches, than to get them yourself. I later asked a friend in the audience if she saw what had happened, and she said she never even noticed! Even so, I've thought of drama as a contact sport ever since. |
