The Reluctant Thesbian
What do you do when theatre participation is mandatory? Join a post-apocalyptic version of “Macbeth”
The first thing Jack Lunch said when he walked into the office was, “I signed you up for Shakespeare in the Woods.”
I said, “Okay.”
I wanted to say, “You’re out of your mind.”
My acting portfolio was lean. The last time I was in a play was in 2008. I was the mayor in my eighth grade class’s rendition of “Bye Bye Birdie”. Participation was mandatory. If the script allowed, the director would have cast me as plywood. I said my lines and waited for the cast party with the hot tub.
That wasn’t my first role as mayor. In an (also mandatory) fifth grade performance of “Wizard of Oz,” I was the Mayor of Oz. And, in a (mandatory) fourth grade play of “Captain Hook,” I featured in the pirate choir.
I skipped the first rehearsal as a favor to Sierra Classic Theatre. If I didn’t show up, they couldn’t miss me. The following day, Lunch told me if I missed another rehearsal I wouldn’t get paid. Macbeth was suddenly…mandatory.
Zac, my coworker and now co-actor, picked up my script. The dramatus personae didn’t list a mayor. I read it again to be sure.
