My Favorite Time

A minute or two to 8:00 on Saturday night in January or May or October. Everyone has a show up, so all over the DC area people are standing just off stage, waiting for curtain. If you listen carefully, you can feel the sub-sonic gliss of energy. It's a very quiet, very focused energy, like right before any big, concerted effort, like the downbeat of a concert, or an infantry charge, or a wedding.*

We are like a web of our own, standing in different theaters all over town, all doing the same thing. Alone/Together.

It's the last possible moment to to put yourself into the place you need to be in to do this thing. It's the time right before it could all go right if we do everything the way we're meant to - the night when it could be perfect. (Well, it could be.)

It's what I miss the most when we close a show and what I love the most about doing theater. All the effort meets in that moment.



*Okay, I've only actually participated in two of those, but I've seen a lot of movies. The vibe is the same. Work with me here.