Week 4:
Theatre in the Midst of Tragedy

June 14, 2016

When I woke up for work on Tuesday morning, I didn’t expect this week to be of particular importance to me.  By the end of the week, that sentiment would change.  But it started like any other normal week here in Creede.

CRT has an eight show repertory season.  Different members of the stage management team are assigned to each show.  As we open more shows and begin to rehearse more shows, I have learned something about working in repertory theatre: the schedule will never be perfect.  There will always be conflicts.  An assistant stage manager might have to take over a rehearsal because the stage manager has a different show to run.

This week was full of conflicts like this.  My week began by taping out the rehearsal space for The History Room.  I am not working on that show, but I was available, so I was assigned to help.  At most theatres, the early stages of rehearsal don’t take place on the actual stage.  There is another space used as a rehearsal space.  This space obviously will not contain the full set, so we use spike tape to lay out the floor plan on the ground.  This way the directors and actors know where walls are, where levels are, where the audience is.

The week flew by in a whirlwind.  I helped out with organizing props storage, I sat in on rehearsals for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, I did a changeover, and we had another performance of Watson.  Before we ran Watson, we had to have a transition rehearsal to replace a crew member.  The final member of our stage management team, Rachel, arrived this week and she is crewing Watson.

One thing I am really learning about stage management here is that the job of the stage management team is to make sure that anyone can run the show.  Domingo has made a detailed run sheet so that even if we didn’t have a rehearsal to plug Rachel into the transitions, everything is written down for her and in theory she could figure it out.  Theoretically if the whole crew was in the hospital, everything would be written down in detail so that replacements could figure it out and the show would go on.

We also do something on the stage management team here called shadowing.  Because there are many conflicts in repertory theatre, there are times when a different member of the team might have to run a show backstage or call the show from the booth even if it not a show they are working on.  To prepare for conflicts and emergencies, we shadow shows we are not working on.  This week I shadowed backstage at Kind of Red.  I learned the track of the assistant stage manager Lucas so that if anything were to ever happen, I could replace him.

But before I shadowed Kind of Red, tragedy struck.

At 2 in the morning on Sunday in Orlando, Florida, it was midnight here in Creede.  With a full day of work in the morning, most of the CRT company was sleeping or preparing to sleep at this time.  Most of us had no idea of the horrific events happening in Florida while we peacefully slept.  That would change in the morning.

I woke up to messages from friends, a Facebook feed overflowing with news, and a heavy heart.  49 killed and many more injured by a mass shooter at a gay club in Orlando, Florida.  The world does not stop for tragedies.  Life does not stop for tragedies.  So despite the pain and suffering happening on the other side of the country, I got out of bed, and headed to a local restaurant for our weekly stage management meeting.

The feeling at the table was somber.  Working at a small theatre in the middle of the mountains in Colorado, I have met people from all over the country.  To work in theatre often means to move to a new location – you go where they will hire you.  Because of this, many of us here have lived in Florida.  I would assume almost all of us know people in Florida.

Another part of this tragedy really hits home for me: the shooting was in a gay club.  The shooter was specifically targeting queer victims.  I am queer.  I have friends at school who are queer.  I have friends here at Creede who are queer.  I have two older brothers who are queer.  My life has been full of love.  I surround myself with people who accept me.  It’s easy to forget that there are people in the world who hate me for who I am.

This tragedy was a reminder that I am lucky to be alive.  Each time I walk down the street holding my girlfriend’s hand, I am making a radical statement.  I am choosing to live my life and be who I am despite the fact that there are people in the world who would rather I be dead than be gay.

With news of this tragedy, some of the team had to prepare for a comedy.  Jean, Rachel, Lucas, and I headed to the main stage to get ready for a matinee performance of Kind of Red.  It is easy to find this inappropriate.  Is now the time to laugh when 49 members of the LGBT+ community have just been shot dead?

But the world does not stop for tragedy, and the show must go on.  We can choose to dread doing a comedy in light of the state of the world.  Or we can choose to embrace it.  We can choose to be grateful for the opportunity to laugh.  We had the privilege of  bringing a beautiful comedy to an audience full of people.

I am so happy that during such a dark time for the queer community, I get to be here in Creede.  I get to spend 6 days a week doing what I love.  I get to assist in making beautiful art and showing it to the world.

There is beauty left in the world, even when it seems easier to focus on what’s wretched.  I experience the beauty every day.  I feel it when I put on one of my mom’s old dresses, when I look back at pictures of my friends, when I get a cute message from my girlfriend.  I feel it at every rehearsal and every performance.  Art is how I cope.  So I am thankful that in the midst of tragedy, I am surrounded by artists.

On Sunday night, there was a company party.  In the midst of tragedy, we came together to have fun.  We came together to dance and talk about life.  Those of us in the queer community came together to say we are still here.

In the midst of tragedy, we continue to come together to make theatre.  What could be more beautiful than that?