I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March. You should do it too! Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing!
20 years ago
there was a gun backstage
my senior year of high school
we kept it it there, locked in a metal toolbox
I think it was locked
I remember the meeting
my principal, my friend and I,
around a table in the back office
there may have been a few other people there
my memory is hazy
we explained how we needed the gun
it was the only way
it had to be believable
concessions were made
our principal understood
our show must go on
so the gun was disabled
we may have gone through a few different kinds of guns
and suppliers
before the gun
and then the starter pistol
were allowed to be stored
so our characters could use
the real deal
and our show could be
the real deal
can you imagine today?
a student asking their principal for permission
to keep a weapon backstage?
On a Thought 
My goodness–yes, that sounds so unbelievable. Of course, so does a paddle on the wall of an office.
Yes! Looking back I just can’t believe it! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Crazy, isn’t it. 40 years ago, my director smoked in our auditorium during play practice. 20 years ago, you begged for a real gun onstage (even for 20 years ago, that seems unbelievable to me). This year, my speech students can’t even bring an empty shell for a speech. How times have changed
It makes me wonder what we do now that will one day seem crazy! Time… so weird.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. 🙂
I remember working hard with you and Margie to locate and cultivate the rhythms and music in every section of the show. With only two characters engaging with each other, the show had to have internal structure that swept the audience along. This was critical in a piece that focussed so strongly on the perspective and emotional life of one character. I spent a lot of time trying to balance the energy on the stage. The way the play is written, there is a real danger that the mother is reduced to a whining, one dimensional speed bump on the daughter’s inexorable journey to the shocking conclusion. One character could not be allowed to become a dramatic device in another actor’s soliloquy. The mother’s internal life had to occupy a fair amount of space. The playwright was not terribly helpful. Ultimately, you did a magnificent job of bringing that mother to life. It was a very hard role.
I also remember candy. Lots and lots of candy.
Lisa! I love your memory. 🙂 G just asked me last night why the mother didn’t just grab the gun out of her daughter’s hand and run away. I couldn’t quite remember, to be honest…. Anyway – I have many slices of life from that play, now that it has been unearthed from my brain in general! You bringing chinese food for dinner, us giving you a Tori Amos CD and flowers as “payment…” (I can’t believe we didn’t pay you real money… you put SO MUCH time into that project!!! I’m so sorry!) I remember making “hot” chocolate on that stove – and you telling me that a mother would never put the pot handle facing out… Now I’m on a mission to find the video, or at least some pictures…. I can’t believe how long it’s been.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! And leaving such a thoughtful and kind comment.
🙂
Wow. This really pulled me in.
It’s crazy to think that twenty years ago you were given permission to have that.
Your writing really makes this though. Thanks!
Thanks so much for your kind comment! I was hoping to pull people in – glad to know it worked. 🙂