Curtain call

Seeing posts about am dram and theatre production rehearsals brings back a sense of nostalgia. The parts are picked, the lines learned (well, you think so...) scenery is constructed, coffee and biscuits consumed until finally that first night draws round. It's time for the curtain call!

Curtain call

Quietness descends on the packed out hall

Chairs squeak in anticipation

As the house lights go down

Full beams light up the curtain

Like searchlights seeking their target

All eyes are trained on those velvet drapes

The wall between reality and imagination

Stands with hands poised on ropes

Ready to throw them back

And draw willing minds

And hungry imaginations

Into this make believe world

Actors gather in the wings

Some nervously

Others self assuredly

All feel the tide of anticipation

Straining against it's dam

It's come to this

The time has come

Every minute has prepared

Whispered lines echo

Like lost words

In a dusty museum

Silent signals are given

and shadows creep

Into their well walked places

As they don their alter ego

The mask comes down

As they are themselves no more

They are stage makeup,

Ragged threads,

Another person altogether

They are the character

And as the music starts,

The hands poised upon ropes

Begin their arduous task

As the veil is torn aside

And with a collective breath,

The line between reality and imagination

Is blurred

For they are now one

And tonight they shall dance together