breaking the fourth wall

    The ability to fast forward or rewind during a live production can be tempting. Especially if the hippocampus throws a nasty curve ball. Knowing that many key elements and foreshadowing might be lost in the leap forward, is a deterring factor to doing so. So rather than skipping ahead, why not slip on over to a different stage in the same theater, in hopes of reliving of a familiar act with well trodden scenes?

    Being greeted by a seemingly familiar yet distinctly different play requires a bit of recalculating. The backdrops appear nearly identical. There are a few new props here and there. Cast and crew go by the same stage names, but handfuls don new suits and hats. Some have altered scenes and others altered roles, but the ones played since opening night haven't changed much. The director has rewritten a number of lines, but the gist of the story remains the same. Dialogues and routines once memorized, need to be reorganized and reformatted in the mind, so that they can fit into the current flow and storyline.
     
    Dads and moms. Brothers and sisters. Family and friends. Air conditioners and cheddar cheese. Ice cream and sweet corn. Thunder and lightning.  A dizzying array of memories, sights, sounds and tastes. Four isles of scented candles. A petting zoo. Ethnic food. An Amish man. Squeaky Peanut. Beef jerky. Real pizza. Sunshine. Swimming!

     Like in any restructuring, there has to be room for a little bit of squirming and adaptation. Once everything has been gone over a few times and there has been ample time to act out roles in the rewritten scenes, ease and comfort are much closer at hand. Things are becoming a bit clearer. Is this the place? It feels good, but also strange. Multiple stages running multiple shows simultaneously. Missing one to catch another. The old familiar has become the new familiar.....

     The curtain falls, as backdrops of sun and sand, scenes of barbeques and reunions, and the costumes of shorts and flip flops fade into the corners of the set. The applause has faded and the theater falls silent. Nothing can be heard now, except for the shuffling of feet and adjusting of tray tables, and the occasional request for a pillow.  A gentle "bing" is heard and the reassuring voice from the overhead speaker reminding the audience to return to the seat, fasten the seat belt, lock trays and make sure the seat is in it's full and upright position. Intermission is over.
    
     The curtain is raised. On soil...looking to the East, those which were once towering ominously above, black and grey, and casting shadows are now, with splendor and majesty, gloriously leading our eyes heavenward, white and shimmering... but just as quickly as they entered the scene, they take a bow, and disappear from sight. Obscured by dark nimbostratus which take to the stage with fury, revealing their talons of tarp tearing and merry mud making, sent earthward in preparation for the next act.
 
    In the same venue, but a little bit closer to our places, the leaves which once skipped and swirled about in whimsical fashion, now lay silent. Every last one of them is gone from their lofty perch. All of the tangled weeping arms and fingers have been removed as well. Cut down and thrown into the fire. Our willow weeps no more. What remains are four twisted towers and a view of what laid beyond the sagging stick curtain. Green hills and emerald tides shrouded in cloudy mist. The old familiar has become the new familiar. The season has again completed a leg of it's perpetual metamorphosis and on the wings of time a new era has arrived. The curtain falls. Every day is a dance with transition.

     The curtain is once again raised bringing familiar scenes of the rain and mud, wood stoves and meetings, stocking caps and rubber boots. Friendly faces and warm embraces. It appears to be the same theater, but perhaps a different act. Is this the place?

     No matter the stage, no matter the backdrop, no matter the scenes, no matter the costumes, no matter the cast and crew, no matter the audience....whatever script is accepted or handed over......one thing's for sure, having the best leading partner and the world's greatest director make all the difference!