About that theatre

A couple of weeks ago my Lovely First Wife hosted her book club group for dinner, and I decided I would find some other place to be for the evening. I sauntered over to the speakeasy.

::record scratch:: Yes, the speakeasy. One of our local restaurants has converted a back room into a tiny bar. You come down the alley and then enter through the janitor’s closet.

So I headed over to Pharmacy for dinner, cocktails, and some reading time.

I didn’t get a lot of reading done. Wednesdays are pretty slow at Pharmacy; at one point I was the only person in the bar. Literally: the barstaff were out in the alley whacking pingpong balls with a golf club. Eventually they returned and, having little else to keep them occupied, they chatted me up.

We had some great discussions about cocktails and mixology, and then I chatted with the only other customer, the guy who’d been helping the staff improve their swing.

He actually started the conversation: He had overheard me mention the Governor’s Honors Program and told me his son had attended the program as a Social Studies major in 2021 (after my stint with the program). He proceeded to brag about his son, currently at UGA. The kid does sound pretty cool.

One thing his dad was very proud of was that as a sophomore he placed second at the International Optimist Oratorical competition, and apropos of nothing the dad said that he was convinced that his son’s love of and participation in theatre was a main force in getting him where he is today, merely the confidence to stand on a stage and speak.

More, I said. Theatre provides kids not just with confidence, but with engagement in the creative process, Making The Thing That Is Not from beginning to end.

Kidsplay little stories, 1999, at Newnan Community Theatre Company

And equally importantly, theatre gives young people a Tribe. They find others who want to Make That Thing, and those for whom this is a calling it is life-saving. (You will recall the concept of scenius in AUDIENCE.)

Back when I was the artistic director of Newnan Community Theatre Company, sometimes a parent would drop their teen off for auditions or set crew and whisper to me that their kid needed friends, needed a “place.” No problem, I would say, and get to work on the kid.

A couple of shows later, the parent would catch me after a show or rehearsal and gush about how wonderful the theatre had been for little Johnny/Susie and thank you thank you thank you. You are welcome, I’d say, and I meant it.

it’s crazier out there than it is in here, 2001 world premiere, newnan community theatre company

It was only later that the grumbling would begin: too many rehearsals, rehearsals run late, another set crew? And then would come the day when the parent would contact me and ask me what to do: Johnny/Susie wants to major in theatre in college. Should they do that? Are they good enough? What if they can’t make a living?

Even if their kid was not good enough, I would tell them that it doesn’t matter. It’s the training they’ll get that will make a difference in their lives, and if theatre is part of their soul it won’t matter if they don’t become a professional. In fact, that college training may be their best/only chance to get the training that will help them Making That Thing for the rest of their lives. After all, I’d tell the parents, I majored in theatre and went on to check out books to kindergarteners — and run the theatre that has made their kid so happy.

The lesson here is that, yes, theatre will give your kid the self-confidence to stand on a stage and speak to an audience. But it will give them so, so much more.

It did for me.