Alex was into amateur theatre. It couldn’t be said he had the lead role in the latest production. In fact, it couldn’t really be said that he had even a minor role in the latest production. Towards the end of the play, Alex had to carry the front end of a bier onto the stage and place it down solemnly. Someone else carried the back end, and then they would walk off. The body on board had to breathe as little as possible to make it look like a corpse.
Alex was nervous about appearing on stage. After all, despite all the hard work by the cast, the production had a season of just the one night. He’d waited in the back room for three quarters of an hour for his moment to arrive. He played cards while he waited. He’d never been on stage before. He had sweaty hands. What if he dropped the body or something?
Then he heard clapping. It was applause coming from the auditorium. Clearly the audience was enjoying the performance.
What’s this? A standing ovation? But it’s not finished yet, surely?
Alex’s moment of glory had passed without him.
To listen to the story being read click HERE!
Is Alex’s resemblance to me coincidental?
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You are often an inspiration, but not in this case!!!!
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Thanks, Bruce. I can wash my sweating palms.
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Not only missed his entrance and exit but also his opening and closing nights. My mother always warned me against the dangers of playing cards.
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Your mother was a wise lady. If you don’t play cards you don’t have to put up with the hand you’re dealt.
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That, my good friend, will serve as my thought for the day. Anyone for backgammon?
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😀
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Alas poor Alex …………… Not even his ten minutes of fame, merely a lifetime of infamy.
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It’ll teach him for wanting to hog the limelight.
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Life upon the wicked stage ain’t never what a guy supposes….
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True – and from a similar musical: it is a tale of sound and fury signifying nothing!!
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Alas (again) poor Alex….he never even got to strut or fret his moment upon the stage, and his candle was so brief it never even got lit.
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I guess he was sans everything. 😦
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What??!! Did the coffin shimmy on stage by itself?
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Presumably the backstage hand made an appearance…
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And may very well have been more authentic!
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LOL! A friend of mine – years and years ago – had to do a similar action in John Millington Synge’s “Riders to the Sea”. He watched the play from the auditorium and thought he would duck at just prior to his appearance. He became so engrossed by the performance that he forgot and joined in the hearty applause at the end before he remembered!
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Those Synge plays, they suck you right in. I remember gasping at the point in The Playboy of the Western World that the first audience gasped (prior to rioting; not the ‘girls in their shifts’ bit but the blasphemy a bit farther along). Good art is ageless and absorbing and current.
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I was in a school play once. I had one line. It brought the house down. I didn’t think it was meant to be funny. Was it the way I told it?
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You’re a natural! I had one line once too. I had to say “Look what the cat’s brought in!” It was a hit each night. I have no idea why!
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Reminds me of me at my worst. Poor guy! But some of the experience should have been the process for him – rehearsals, the cast and camaraderie. Glass half full.
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Now that’s a positive take on the situation!
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Sometimes I have dreams like that, me missing important events.
I imagine that body walking by itself must be the reason for the standing ovations. It gave the play a ‘lift’.
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LOL!!!!
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Alex wasn’t in Wonderland 😦
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I thought of you!
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Aww thanks 🙂
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