Doing Homework

I see that our supposedly weekly blog has become bi-weekly, which is not good, but I’ll get myself into the habit of writing more often. It has been a good couple of weeks – pretty eventful for me. We’ve had some interesting rehearsals. In fact, our last one was in a racquetball court, which certainly made for interesting acoustics! If you’re wondering why on Earth we would do that, the answer is: hockey (i.e. unavailable living room). Hopefully things will be back on track after next week . We’ve had to reschedule a few rehearsals already on account of sickness, school, and improv nights. Despite that though, I think we’re making some decent progress. As Richard mentioned, he doesn’t always play just Mark, but the other characters he plays definitely have a distinct presence now.

"...when these people started talking about their thoughts and feelings, or just telling stories, I felt more at ease."

Thinking about what we’ve done in the past week, what stands out the most for me is a particular evening of research. We got the chance to listen to some people who are currently in recovery, and it was nothing short of amazing. At first, it was very intimidating; to say that I felt out-of-place would be an understatement.  But when these people started talking about their thoughts and feelings, or just telling stories, I felt more at ease. The stories were not always ones that I could relate to, but I loved hearing them and how they’ve helped turn lives around completely.

Dramatic as it may sound, it has taken some time for me to absorb and digest everything that we heard that night. That’s not to say that I was traumatized or something – not at all! On the contrary, I feel so many positive things. For one, I feel compassion and admiration for the people who shared their stories and exposed themselves without shame. That takes so much courage. I also feel relieved to know, for example, that existential crises are more common than I thought, which is extremely comforting! When it comes to “Addicted”, I feel more distant and yet somehow closer to Mark. I am a lot more aware of how different we are, but I’ve also gotten a deeper understanding of what he is talking about.

In conclusion (excuse the academic tone), researching Mark’s world has proven to be quite valuable for me – as a stage manager and a person – as well as inspiring. I feel so lucky and excited to be part of this production!