Dream Journal
I was directing a high school play and we were gearing up for opening night. The CBS television station took some special interest in our production and provided a lot of money and a new location for opening night.
The entire cast and crew marched through the streets with banners on our way to the new location. When we arrived at the new theater, we saw it was extremely dirty, old, and had only enough room on stage for a few supporting actors. There was no backstage and no way for people to get on and off stage other than climbing over its front, four feet off the ground.
The kids were nervous about all of the television coverage and the new location. I had them do a run-through, and the lead actor, Jason, insisted on reading from his script. They were not ready, and we were supposed to open that night.
Off stage left was a giant hole and then a staircase going down where the rest of the cast and choir had to go. The people on stage could not see them and could hardly even hear them, but there was no better option.
I convinced the lead actor to try a scene without his script, but he couldn’t remember his lines. We were not ready.