ENGL 202A Section 4
Final Draft
What a Day for a Show!
As I approached the Forum building I took a quick glance at my watch. It was 1:50 in the
afternoon on a frigid Saturday. There were any number of places that I could be, any number of
things I could be doing today, but here I was, on campus, walking into a lecture hall. It turns out
that I wasn’t the only one to leave the comfort of my cozy heated room and wander onto campus
today. The doors outside 111 Forum were cluttered with a loose collection of people, young and
old, all waiting to get in. As the time for No Refund Theatre’s show approached, a head popped
out of one of the doors. “Alright, come on in” he told the gathering crowd before disappearing
back inside.
The audience slowly bustled through the narrow doors to find a seat. Having been to
another NRT show just last weekend, I didn’t think there would be much change from the
previous setup, but as I entered the room I noticed several discrepancies. I had hoped to position
myself on the left side of the room to observe the production, but rather found that nobody was
occupying the sides. This may have been due to the rather impressive lighting equipment that
had been set up among one of the rows on both the left and right sides of the room. Not wanting
to go against the flow, I followed everyone else into the middle section of the room and took a
seat towards the back.
Moving my attention from the stage lights to the stage itself, I saw a rather impressive set.
Solid metal fencing had been put up along the entire length of the room in front, with stairs going
up to different elevations that had been constructed on the stage. During my previous visit, I had
wondered how they managed to get a bed into the Forum building, but this stage they had
constructed took things to a whole new level. The fencing was easily 8 feet tall and reached out
five feet or more in some sections. How this small group of people had managed to acquire the
nice lighting equipment and construct and then carry in this massive set eluded me. Pulling off a
setup like this surely must have taken a lot of determination.
One aspect that I saw had not changed from before was the looks that I received. People
took notice of me, giving inquisitive and often derisive glances in my direction as if to make sure
that I understood that I was an outsider here. But I could care less about this audience and their
looks. What I really came to observe was the members of NRT themselves. They were fairly
easy to spot out: Up and down the aisles they would go, greeting one another and also
whispering details to one another. It seemed as if they were preparing for the show up to the last
minute. The lights in the room cut out for a moment, briefly plunging us all into darkness and
signifying (in the most theatrical way possible given the setting) that the show was about to
begin.
The production went off without a hitch. I soon saw that they also had made use of
silhouettes positioned behind a sheet which would change to reflect the scene. At one point I
would see the outlines of clothes swinging against a yellow backdrop, while at another moment I
would see a coffee table’s silhouette against a blue background. I was again impressed with
them being able to use this rather professional-looking technique. It served an important purpose,
what with the rest of the set being composed of metal fencing. The fluidity of the performances
– which were well coordinated with the stage lighting – made me wonder exactly how much
these people practice for this show and, perhaps more importantly, where. After a dimming of
the stage and then the return of the room lights, I knew it was intermission. It was time to find
out more about the workings of the group.
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I exited the room and began to look for the nearest NRT member. Outside in the hallway
I saw that they had set up a stand with refreshments. The student guarding the stand was
explaining to an older person that the donations there help fund the operation. Once this older
individual had bought his candy bar, I approached the student. After confirming that he was, in
fact, a member of NRT, I asked where I might find the president or vice-president of the
organization. To my surprise, I was informed that the president was actually one of the people in
the play I was watching, so he would be unavailable until after the show. However, the member
I was talking to told me that he had just seen the vice-president, and attempted to take me to him.
He walked into room 111 and, upon not seeing the vice president around, began asking around
for him. Nobody seemed to know where he had run off to, but came to the conclusion that he
had headed off “backstage” to see the actors. Because of this, I was informed that I’d just have
to wait until the end of the show to talk.
I did just that, waiting patiently for the final bow. At least now I knew exactly where to
find the president. After the show had concluded and the lights had come up, I tried to work my
way to the president. However, I found this difficult, as the aisles were crammed with people
surrounding the actors and congratulating them. While waiting patiently for my turn, I paid
attention to the conversations that the people were having. On one hand there were parents who
had apparently come to see their children in the show. The president awkwardly shook hands
with them, thanking them and assuring them that he “really didn’t mean those things he was
saying about your daughter. It’s just the script!” He seemed as if he had to make sure they knew
that he really was a nice guy in real life, unlike the child rapist he had just performed as.
The other group that would come up to talk to the actors was NRT members. The
recurring trend I noted with them is that they would first congratulate the actor and then proceed
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to make comments about the theatrical aspects that they noticed in the production. For instance,
one member seemed to think that the president’s character’s recurring use of the word
“especially” had some sort of symbolic significance, and questioned him about it. It seemed
almost as if the members wanted to prove that they really did know theater, and could understand
the finer elements of the production.
All the while, the president kept glancing over in my direction. It was as if he, like the
audience, knew that I was an outsider. When I finally introduced myself and told him why I was
there, he seemed very aloof. It seemed clear to me at that point that he had other things to think
about than some English student asking questions. He had just performed! He had to be
commended! Besides, other people had now begun to line up behind me to do just that. I
grabbed my notebook and headed out. If I hoped to get anything direct out of these NRT
members, it seemed I still had a lot of work to do. They are a close-knit group of thespians, and
seemed quick to notice any outsiders. It was time that I got to know them better. It was time to
observe a rehearsal.
When I finally heard back from the director for NRT’s next performance, I was ecstatic.
Every email I had sent to other directors had not even received a response. I found myself back
in the Forum building once again, but experienced a situation far removed from that of the past
performances. Upon my arrival, the director excitedly introduced herself, and the other members
all welcomed me to the set with a smile. I sat back, listening and watching as they prepared for a
rehearsal, and noticed a far more laid back attitude than at the actual performances. The
members were constantly cracking jokes, and seemed to be setting up at a leisurely pace. In fact,
by the time I had been there for two hours, they still were not ready to have a rehearsal.
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After two hours, I began to get frustrated. It was nice to observe the NRT
members prepare, but I had hoped to watch a rehearsal. The laid back attitude seemed to
really hinder the preparation. Sure, the director would be running around trying to get
things ready, but most of the other members were just sitting around chatting. At one
point, the director had to yell “Shut up!” to a group of members because she couldn’t
even hear the lighting guys with whom she was having a conversation about the show.
The members didn’t seem quite sure how to react, and almost immediately started talking
again. This atmosphere seems a far cry from that of performance night. Although the
reception was much warmer, the fuzzy attitude seemed to hinder progress. I’m beginning
to wonder if the response I received at the performance – when it was really game time –
showed NRT at its best.
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