The Theatre...ahhh, I Miss It!

Today was my first true outing with the gals since my son was born! A friend from the Moms Club got a big part in a play put on by Patterson Repertory Theatre. So some of the moms from the club, including me, went to see it.

There I was, sitting with about 40-50 other people watching the Sunday matinee of "The Nerd". It felt good to just BE in a theatre again. To see the constructed set, the props sitting inanimately waiting for the tiny part in which they would become useful. The sounds of people talking during intermission..the smell of butter popcorn filling the air...well, you get the point.

It made me yearn for the days when I was behind the set, waiting for my entrance cue, the director calling out, "Scene 2..PLACES PEOPLE!!" Those seemingly endless hours of tech rehearsals, the impromptu line run-throughs with your scene mates while waiting for the light guy to learn his cues, and the excitement of looking over the precipice of that final dress rehearsal. The elation of looking forward to the cast party and wondering if you were ever going to get close to a another cast ever again like you have with the present one. Those were the days. The carefree "I'm a single gal expressing my creativity" days. It was so invigorating to the soul.

Ya see, the thing is, I haven't been to even a movie theatre since the early part of my pregnancy. That was 2 years ago. I watched movie after movie that I would otherwise be dying to see come and go. "We'll catch it on video" was the rallying cry at our house when we watched Ebert and Roper. (And even watching it on video wasn't the same, with all of the interruptions and pressing pause). Besides, as a nursing mom, you can't just nab a babysitter at the last minute and steal away with your husband to the Triplex for a few hours. When Benjamin was an infant, we had no family or close friends who lived nearby to watch him anyway. And we couldn't leave Benjamin with anyone for fear that he would be traumatized and scream bloody murder the whole time.

So to go to a real play where I knew one of the actors, was a real treat. It was second to being up on stage myself. The baby did quite well with his Daddy, too, playing at home on his jungle gym.

And it was nice to come home to 2 smiling faces, both eager to see me, and not just because I had washed their socks! This is invigorating to the soul...remembering who I am not just as a wife and a mom, which are without a doubt my most important and cherished roles. But also remembering who I am as a thinker, a writer, a patron of the arts.

**