We opened on Tuesday, March 30, to a full house, a generous house. I felt it was a particularly good performance. I was pleased with my own track.
Wednesday was also good.
Thursday morning was our first student matinee, at 11 AM, predominantly middle schoolers and some high schoolers. Before the show the actors noted how refreshing it was that they were actually performing the entire show – no cuts with regards to length (2:45); language (everything from “whore” to what is called the dirtiest word in the English language); or nudity (4 of the 5 actors get down to briefs).
Of course, the first appearance of underwear in the show (10 minutes in) was met with cheers, whistles, and maybe worst of all, laughs. Don’t worry boys, they’re just 12 year olds. Don’t even know what they’re looking at.
When I was in 6th grade my class traveled afar (I think it was Delta College in Stockton) to see an afternoon of 5 short plays, all of the horror genre: Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, The Monkey’s Paw, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Necklace, and for the life of me I can’t remember the 5th one. It was a really good field trip – too bad programs like that are falling by the wayside. I wonder if I was really as attentive and appropriate an audience member as I am in my memory.
In 7th grade I went on the New York/DC trip and we saw The Phantom of the Opera. And while the cool thing to do now is to roll your eyes at Phantom, I have seen it like 4 times. I think it’s the perfect show to introduce a kid to theatre: it has everything, spectacle to romance to familiar story and music. Again I wonder if 12 year old me was a good audience member.
High school found us back in Stockton a couple times for productions for Academic Decathlon. We would go out for the day, someone would teach us about the art stuff, they would do all the music, and whatever bonus category could be worked into a performance. One year I watched opera singers and noted how much they spit while they were singing. Another year (the same year?) they did a staged reading of a dramatic adaption of the book we were reading, Cry, the Beloved Country. I judged them for having scripts in their hands. If I knew then what I know now…but I guess that wouldn’t be as fun.
I had convinced myself to give the student matinee kids a break: sure, they’re going to giggle when one man cries into another man’s lap, or when one actor undresses another, but as the actors had agreed before the performance, if seeing this show can hook one kid it will be worth it. When one little girl (7th grade?) said in the talkback that seeing the show was amazing and had meant so much to her, you could see all of them melt.
The second student matinee (this Tuesday morning) was all high schoolers and was much, much quieter – there wasn’t any giggling but there wasn’t really any response at all. (Although when two of the actors kissed they did make the 90s sitcom “wooooo!” sound.) They all stuck around for the talkback though and they were very vocal and very smart. Maybe I don’t give kids enough credit.
So we are now 12 performances into a 42-performance run, and so far it’s been going well. Energy is down, with everyone, even after a day off. Hopefully once everyone gets used to the 9-show week schedule it’ll pick up. And thus ends my Equivocation update, Part II.
The Cameraphone Diaries 