I made a declaration the other day, saying that if "Man/Father" had all of his lines down, then I'd give him a kiss! He'd been stumbling over them, getting the accent wrong, and then had the nerve to go camping for 3 days! How can you study your lines and pitch a tent at the same time?

Well, guess who had all his lines down?

And guess who got indignant when he still made mistakes over his entrances and exits, claimed he knew German when he couldn't do an accent to save his mother's life, had a long list of notes made by The Director because he had way too many flaws during a run-through yesterday?

Sigh! It's funny, and it's not funny. One girl is too soft-spoken to be heard even when one is 2 arm's length away from her, but at least she doesn't stand out as badly. It was brought to my attention that I have the lead in the play; I didn't need reminding of that, for now my anxiety will rise higher, on top of singing and wincing everytime my voice struggles to hit a note. I've been complimented on my voice, but I still think it needs practice. At one point, I had a habit of saying,"I am your father, sir", instead of daughter: I keep doing Darth Vadar! Everyone burst into laughter when I uttered that, but we need as many laughs as possible. I'm also told that I'm responsible for keeping the energy up, so when I utter,"You don't have to be a lone wanderer anymore, we'll be your family.", I tend to say it like I were in an Ingmar Bergman movie, and when the director exaggerated my cumbersome delivery, I was rolling around with laughter, tears streaming down my cheeks: he's so funny at telling you you suck.

"Tom" won't be here today, and out loud, The Director said,"He's going on a date with his boyfriend, Jessie". He was outed, like everyone knew. I didn't know, and I didn't know who knew, but I was pretty new to the theatre, so it doesn't matter. I wasn't sure how he reacted when his date was blurted out like that, making me feel that if I let it be known that I was a lesbian, that I'd be suddenly made vulnerable like that. Anyway, I also thought it cool that the main trio containing me, "Tom", "Woody/Prince Hal/etc" were all gay, although I'm assuming the latter is, because my gaydar keeps reacting anytime he's near. I'd seen him in a fringe play called, "Bannock's Creatures", that I thought was okay, for a kid's show.

I went over my lines yesterday in the basement, where it's cool and roomy, so I'll stick to that method and do it again. I've got all my lines down, but it's just a matter of remembering them now. Got to refine and polish my part then feel liberated to leap and bound upon the stage without worry. Besides past workshops, it's been a few years since I'd been in a play, maybe 3 years or so. Those workshops really paid off. I was also worried that being in a free-play would hurt me financially, but it's like being in an acting class for free, working out my acting muscle at no expense.

It's funny: I'm playing the adult version of a little white girl's fairy-tale, and a white guy is playing an "Indian". If this were a major theatre, I'd probably get the smaller roll, and no self-respecting First Nations person would do the role of Woody unless he had an interesting approach to it.

Oh yeah, I didn't have to kiss the boy.