Yes, yes, I know…. I SAY it was too awesome for words, and then here I am, attempting to find some to describe the experience anyway. How about one of the “strucks”? As in Thunderstruck or Dumbstruck or Moonstruck or even Awestruck? Nah, I used awesome already, so Awestruck is probably out.
But the bottom line is that the theater run for my two first publicly-produced plays is over. The final curtain has closed. The set has been struck (there’s that word again!). The actors have moved on to study lines for their next performance—or simply to collapse!
Closing night was the bittersweet best. My Darling Niece (MDN) was there from the UW, along with her mother and father. Several of my friends who had not yet seen the plays were also in attendance, and the house was packed once again. Laughs came in all the right places, and were genuine and hearty and such a blessing for the people who feed off the energy of the audience. People like the actors. And the playwright.
There was a short cast party onstage afterward, with plenty of hugs and finger food, and then it was time to drive the 52 miles back home, dodging the deer and the elk and a few stray tears. It was the longest and the shortest drive of this whole experience, with plenty of time for soft reflection, and not enough time to process it all.
I made some good new friends at the theater. I learned a ton of things about how the play production process works. I even got to experience the electric excitement in the dressing room, which felt like party central, on the last two nights. And I loved it all.
Perhaps the words I’ve been looking for are words I need to express directly to the company of fine people involved with the Willapa Players (see sidebar). Perhaps I could make like Carol Burnett and sing, “I’m so glad we had this time together…” Or perhaps I could wrap up this whole miraculous experience just by saying, from the very core of my heart: Thank you.