The Thin Line Between Truth and Fiction

A couple of brief items that I thought were amusing and worth sharing:

A few nights ago, I had what might be a rite of passage of sorts for actors - my first "actor's nightmare," dreaming I was on stage with absolutely no idea why I was there. It may very well be that the cold meds I was on played a part in this, since I generally don't have such unpleasant unconscious thoughts. In any case, what made it almost entertaining was that the setting for this unfolding catastrophe was NCDA, so I was surrounded by familiar faces.

Of course, that also only added to the drama trauma, since it's so much harder to disappoint the people you care about. So, I'm on stage, surrounded by my cohorts. Some of whom, I seem to recall, were equally clueless. Interestingly, I don't recall being stricken with absolute panic. I remember thinking things were going slowly, but also being very alert about what was happening and trying to listen and respond semi-appropriately until I could "escape."

But apparently I wasn't good enough. My co-bloggers soon appeared to bail us out - one of them actually taking away the script that had somehow appeared on stage (even in my unconscious I know that's a no-no during a show!). Even though Doug and Nan didn't look thrilled to be there, I was relieved to be rescued. I think the dream fast-forwarded to some kind of post-show discussion of what happened, at which time, mercifully, I woke up.

On a slightly different note, "Oh, No, Performers Coming Into Audience" from The Onion gave us all a laugh the other day. And then, days later, I find I'm cast in a play that has some crowd interaction in it. (But not to this absurd extent.) Just another example of art imitating life imitating art, I guess.