I never forget my love for theatre, but I always forget the level on which I love it until I get there. My effervescent adoration for the activity feels rekindled in full force this lovely Saturday morning.
The creativity that occurs in that auditorium is absolutely beyond gorgeous. I love trying, and seeing my friends try, something completely new on stage. Even if the effect is less than perfect, it's so refreshing to be able to be a new character, get involved in someone else. Every character has so much depth of their own. It lets me forget about what's troubling me, and focus on what's troubling my character.
Plus, it's unimaginably fun to see so much talent in one room. Skill is abundant in the theatre, and you don't have to look far to find someone you love. Everyone is vulnerable there. All of us stand up on stage and put ourselves out there. That itself is lovely. The fact that we can be so real with each other.
So ourselves that we can slip into the person of someone else.
The honest light of the theatre is a light hard to find. The people are of a special caliber, a rare breed. The talents of cast-mates feed each other. Inspire. We move each other to tears, and make each other laugh so hard our stomachs hurt. We are a beautiful, intricate people who know that an actor playing an evil character is probably not inherently evil in himself, and that two characters in love can be the most platonic of friends.
All of these are secrets of the backstage. The audience never sees these. They see only the beautiful masterpiece of a show, and that's what is fun for them.
But what I love most about theatre is seeing the beautiful masterpieces that are people - the most glorious, inspiring beings of humankind. These are the people I'm lucky enough to call "friends," the ones that remind me why I so much adore what is humanity today. Their dedication, their talent, their honest, raw love for one another is the reason I joined theatre, and the reason I never want it to end.
