Ends and Beginnings

Last night was opening night of the Classic Shorts (the shows I assistant directed). While killing time before the show, I was sitting chatting with Peter, one of the actors. All of a sudden, Adrianna, one of the actresses, walked up to me and hugged me without much of a word. I hugged her back and just smirked at Peter's confused expression. A few minutes later, Mckenzie, another of the actresses, walked up and hugged me without much of a word. Again, I hugged her back and smiled at Peter's confusion. I shrugged my shoulders. Not long after this, Kylie, a third actress, walked up, hugged me, and kissed my cheek. As she walked away, Peter shook his head. "They do know you're going to be here for the whole run, right? What's going on?" I just shrugged.

A bit later, Peter and I had entered the theatre. The set was up and the clock was ticking. It was getting closer and closer to performance time. Out of the blue, Laura, another actress, came up to me and hugged me. Unlike the others, she also said, "Thanks for that lovely card."

"Aha!" Peter exclaimed. "I knew something was going on!" I just laughed and told him he had one waiting in the dressing room.

A bit later, Bobby, one of the actors, thanked me as well.

Not to downplay the sincerity, but I've picked up the tradition of director giving thank you cards to his (or her) actors from my directors back home. Both Dick and Dennis give cards of thanks for each production. It's a kind thing to do, a simple way of saying thanks for working hard. To me, it's not a huge deal. But the little action made these actors happy.

A short time later, the actors and Tash, our stage manager, called Herman (the head director), Wendy (our wonderful set/costume designer), and I down to the stage floor where they presented us each with gifts. They gave me a photo frame which they all signed (and a photo of the whole group is on its way--it just hadn't been printed yet). And see, here's the thing... That was the first I've been given a gift as a director. And suddenly, I realized just how much such a simple thing really does make a person happy. It really made me feel like I was appreciated and that all my work on the show was worth the effort.

And most importantly, throughout all of these exchanges--the physical ones, the material ones, the spoken ones--it occurred to me just how much I have enjoyed working on this production and getting to know these people. Although I still have a good amount of time left in my semester here, I'm feeling a bit melancholic to see these shows coming to a close. I have been working on them since the first day of classes. They have basically defined my Australian school experience thus far. The Australians I've been getting close to thus far are the cast members of these shows.

And just as one thing ends, another begins. I had my Alice in Wonderland auditions a couple days ago. Today, the cast list went up. I'm playing the White Knight, which is a role for which all male auditionees were required to do the monologue. It's a good sized role, complete with a ridiculously long, rambling 2 page song. It's a pretty iconic part.

I was excited to see that several of my friends from the Classic Shorts cast got good roles too. Now, a new show begins where I am no longer in charge. I am back down to earth as an actor. And I get to act with a group of people that I am loving getting to know and be around. I get to be among my friends, as well as around more people that I don't know quite as well. It's exciting. And life is great.