I looked like a blue Santa

I had an ethereal experience last night. It was really super. Instead of the normal Tuesday night activities like karaoke or pouring soap into the hot tub, I went to the theatre.

Going to the theatre is a bittersweet experience for me. I see the stage and immediately removed am I to roles I've filled. Bright lights in your face with an audience beyond in the murk, words and emotion flooding your head. When taking stage during rehearsals, your first thoughts always center on how you will remember all those lines. Eventually, you just 'get' the character you're playing. And when that curtain goes up on opening night, it is the moment; you have just become something else. It's the only out-of-body experience I've ever known.

I don't think you're ever the same after you've been in a play. It's like keeping a secret; knowing whether the light bulb is on once you close the refrigerator door. For most people, once you've seen the audience from the stage, you always want to go back.

I was at the theatre last night because my friend wrote a play. Austin is a lot of things, and most people think it revolves around music. The bulk of it does, but there is every kind of art imaginable and the theatre thrives here. Last night kicked off something called FronteraFest. The first half is devoted to something called the "short fringe" which is a nightly run of five plays of about twenty minutes each. My friend's play is called "Hildegard's Dream" and it is a vignette of the twelfth C. Benedictine nun and mystic, Hildegard von Bingen. It was an amazing marriage of monologue, music, and imagery. To my great delight, I was able to contribute a small portion to the production.

And there was a spark. I really think I could write a play. I always considered myself to be poor with dialogue, something that has hindered previous attempts at fiction. It's possible to work through that, of course. This is not a story, but a history.