There are no small parts, only small actors

Sometimes having a 30 second role where I only walk across the stage is a blessing.

Take tonight, for example.

I showed up fifteen minutes early to rehearsal, as always. Tonight was the brush-up rehearsal. When a theatre company has been off for a few nights, it’s typical for the director to schedule a rehearsal the day before performances resume to make sure that everyone remembers line and entrances and the like.

We try to run this rehearsal as quickly as possible. Sometimes it’s called a speed thru or Italian run thru – you say the lines as quickly as you possibly can while still getting all the words out and most of the emotion with it as well. Just to get the feel for the play again.

My part in the script comes about ten pages in. I walked onstage and did my lines quite quickly and was on to my exit in a matter of seconds.

I was out of the theatre by 7:20 pm, twenty minutes into the rehearsal.

Which is good, because the remaining piles of laundry weren’t going to wash themselves this evening.

Did I mention that I have to get the house in order for a cast party this weekend and I have two work events and two performances between now and then? I’m definitely looking forward to Monday, when things can get back to normal.