Monday, October 16, 2000

My debut at The Rep

I pretty much gave up performing when I moved to St. Louis, lapsing only occasionally for two plays, a musical and a couple of stand-up gigs over the past 13 years. It's always a little thrilling to step out onto a stage before an audience, though, even if the role is the human equivalent of set dressing. Last Saturday, I played "Juror #11" in my theatre's production of Inherit the Wind.

This is not a demanding role, it should be said upfront, although the jurors are on stage for several scenes in the first act and practically all of the second. During the run, at least four of the juror roles will be filled by (non-paid) volunteers and members of the administrative staff. Our primary purpose is to flesh out the stage picture and, by fanning and wiping our brows on cue, to convey the sense that the action of the play is, in fact, taking place in a sweltering Tennessee courtroom.

The character I played on Saturday isn't assigned a name in the script. In fact, I only extrapolated "Juror #11" from my position on the stage. I decided to lend authenticity to my performance, however, by giving him a back-story. The costume pulled from stores for me was a tasteful three-piece suit, necktie and hat, the latter of which I elected to wear at a somewhat jaunty angle.

My character would be "Ben" (or perhaps "Behn"), the lifelong bachelor who operates the tiny town's bridal shop. Behn shares a spacious farmhouse outside of town with a man everyone assumes to be his significantly younger cousin, Matthew, who moved to Hillsboro from Georgia a year ago and works as a hand on Jesse Dunlap's farm down the road. As I sat on stage and listened to the pro- and anti-evolution forces hash out their respective arguments, I could see the prim ladies of the town sitting opposite me, occasionally glancing my way with the thought, "Behn is such a good looking man, well-dressed, mannerly and such a talent for putting together a trousseau. And so charitable to take in that reckless, tow-headed boy cousin. I wonder why Behn has never married himself. Hmm..."