The Play's the Thing.

I love theatre. Full stop. I love movies too, and perhaps one day I will write a blog about my obsession with movies, but right now, I want to talk about theatre.

It's probably on my mind because I am just about to get underway with our school show. Directing a high school play is extremely rewarding, but it is also an exhausting, nerve-wracking pursuit. Your cast members are only available to you for a few hours each day after school, and have so many other things on the go that they are often totally swamped. They are balancing up to eight different academic courses, sports teams, orthodontic appointments and tutoring sessions. And more importantly, they are at the most socially tumultuous point of their lives, and can be distracted by worries about friendships, romantic relationships, and how much Axe deodorant spray to apply after gym class in order to attract the opposite sex. (Note: Boys, let me save you some time. NO amount of Axe deodorant spray will attract the opposite sex. It is heinous. Seriously. Ask around.)

I remember my very first trip to a theatrical event. I was five years old, and my father, a devotee of the theatre, took me to see a troupe called the "Strolling Players," at the London Public Library. I still remember the song they sang to open and close their show:

"We are the strolling players

We're here to play for you

We'll laugh and sing and dance and have some fun!

We hope you will enjoy us

and join in all the fun

And that is how we strolling players play!"

In my younger years I was somewhat less sophisticated, and thought that this was the pinnacle of artistic genius. I was also far less likely then to harbour disdain for a song that rhymed "fun" with "fun" than I am now. A love affair with the theatre was born.

I was completely entranced with the idea of performing, and I would drag my family (in particular my long-suffering brother) into the basement to sing songs and put on skits.
I created performances using my "Mini-Pops" albums and the John Denver and the Muppets' Christmas Album. My father brought home a Monty Python record and I memorized all of the sketches, which I performed, complete with the appropriate voices and accents in front of family AND guests (The "Argument" sketch and the ridiculous "Eric the Half a Bee" were two of my personal favourites.) I was relentlessly picked on when I was in elementary school, and my basement theatre was a place where I could make my own fun.

I finally overcame some of my shyness and, encouraged by my incredible friend Jenn, auditioned for and joined a local youth theatre troupe when I was in the ninth grade. I got some pretty good roles in high school shows, won the drama award, and went on to study English Literature and Theatre Arts at university. But I knew I would never make my living as an actor.

Now, of course I entertained fantasies of going to professional acting school and making a career out of it. I dreamed of someone discovering me and taking me to Hollywood and putting me in pictures! But I knew, deep down, that I wasn't suited to be an actor. I'm too sensitive, I'm not resilient enough, and the constant financial insecurity of the actor's lifestyle would wear me down. And by the time I was university I had finally realized what it was that I loved most about the theatre, and it wasn't about being in the spotlight.

I actually figured it out while I was leading a camping trip with some very challenging kids. I had become involved in outdoor education, and this particular group of kids came with their own group of social workers who were there to restrain them if the need arose (I am not joking.) The first two days of the trip had been pretty shaky, but all of a sudden the group began to click. As I watched them working together and negotiating what needed to happen in order to set up their tents, I was struck by how much can happen when people work hard together to accomplish something.

And that's what I love about the theatre. I love watching the actors do their thing, but it goes way beyond that. I love the fact that behind the actors is a set that somebody built, lit by lights that somebody else hung and designed, and dressed by props that somebody else collected. I love the fact that the audience radiates energy back to the actors and crew. A play feels alive and subtle and exciting and changeable, and that's not an experience that you can have at a movie theatre. Teaching drama and directing high school shows has allowed me to take the best part of what I love and share it with my students. I don't care in the least whether or not they pursue acting when they leave high school. But I do hope with everything in me that they leave with an appreciation of the art form and with the knowledge that if you can collaborate positively with a group of people, you can create something extraordinary.

Directing a play can be frustrating, and it can feel like it will never come together. But on performance nights, I am completely overwhelmed with pride and respect for the hard work and talents of my students, and I am already excited to begin the process again. I compare it to what I imagine childbirth must be like; painful, stressful and messy, but the minute you see the final product the memory of the pain vanishes and you are willing to do it again. (Note: My mother assures me that this is true of childbirth, although I feel compelled to point out that she was so highly medicated during my birth that she thought that she saw birds flying around the delivery room. True story.) Anyway, that's how it goes when you are working on a play, in any capacity.

So, without the aid of even one tiny epidural, I am leaping into directing Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile with my excellent students this term who will act, stage manage and design. It will be time consuming and it will be difficult. I'll get tired and I'll get cranky and I'll get frustrated.

And I can't wait to get started.