There goes another show.

Measure For Measure is dead. We closed yesterday, and within 2 hours of the final bow, there was nothing left to indicate that a show had occupied that space for the past month. All of the instruments were on the deck and awaiting the next hang, the set was in the dumpster, and the actors were gone.

There's a queer (I use the term deliberately) intimacy that springs up during a show. There's the intimacy of dressing and undressing with these people every week, the blurring of societal and personal expectations, and the puppy-pile of draping about the green room, but there's also more than that. You become a loose-knit family, for better or for worse. Sometimes the family created is a dysfunctional one. Sometimes the family is so large that alliances form and re-form. And sometimes, the group is of a perfect size and talent level to allow interesting discussions to occur and mutual respect to grow and flourish. That, I think, is what happened in M4M. I met some wonderful people, got the chance to act with friends, and had a safe space to try something new.

The problem with the lovely intimacy is that it's so transient. We're done. I won't see this group of people all together ever again. Most of the friendships will dissolve into a friendly aquaintance that you're wonderfully glad to see again, but make no effort to see them on a regular basis. I know things about these people that won't be applicable again. I get to work with 5 of the same people on the next project, but this time I'm in a different seat. I'm not onstage with them, so their intimacy will continue in a different direction, influenced by their other cast members, and I will have to distance myself a bit.

It was a wonderful time, a good show, and a great experience. It's one of the few shows that I leave with a bit of melancholy.


Ah, well. On to Richard.