Never Say Never

During the last couple of months, Monday night has turned into "theatre night." A small group of friends and I get together to chat (books, movies, plays)...and to experiment with different acting techniques while working monologues and scenes.   I'm still not exactly sure how this happened, since I thought I was DONE, DONE, DONE! with theatre. 

Well, hell's bells, I can tell you exactly how it happened.  My resolution for 2012 was that it will be "A Year of Yes." If someone asks me to go on an adventure, I'm to do my very best to say Yes, and to go along with it.   (Wait!  Maybe I shouldn't say that too loud.  Really I'm a homebody...I like staying home, and reading....)

The space we rent is near a soup kitchen for the homeless, a feed store, and a teen center.  It's a great little space, in many ways.  We're in an old brick building, in a room with large windows on both sides, and a warm wood floor. 

It's an odd space, too.   There are bars on the windows, for instance.  The railroad tracks are Right There.  On Monday nights a group of fire dancers practices in the parking lot outside.  When they show up, about halfway through our session, unexpected flashes of light start finding a way through our windows, along with music and laughter.  At first I thought, "Yikes!" but...somehow...it adds to the challenging fun of working a monologue. 

Except you do tend to worry about your car, if you're parked in the lot.  And when you leave, you need to watch out for spinning hula hoops (which are lit from within), and big globs of fire.  But the fire dancers are a super-friendly bunch, primarily in their 20's.  A friendly little cattle dog is always with them.  When they notice we're on our way out, they'll generally stop whatever they're doing and wait for us to go by.  Sometimes they even want to chat a bit....putting down their fires to ask us how our evening went, and seeming genuinely interested in our answers.  Surly young people?  Not here!!  One of these days I'll bring a nice camera and try to get a couple of good photos.  Through the window, they look something like this:

Did you ever imagine that so many young folks would get together in our town, to practice "fire dancing"?  I once heard about groups of "vampires" gathering for all-night role-playing games in and around the downtown garages, a few years ago, but that's all.  I suspect there's a lot happening in this old town, but I stay home too much to notice it.      

Perhaps 'A Year of Yes' will turn out to be a good idea...