…to bring a kid to a theatre show! I performed my solo show last night at San Francisco State University. It was the last time I’d be performing v. 1.0 of the show, and I felt very uneasy. The day of a performance I am always nervous and nauseous, but I had been worried about this particular performance for a few weeks now. The venue was a huge auditorium set up for a banquet, the program was long and I was on at the end, and the organization bringing me out didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with theatre performances.
For the most part it went smoother than I expected except for the fact that someone brought their crying baby to the event. Who the f*ck brings a baby to a theatre show? Who? An Arab! Now don’t get me wrong I love my peeps, but some of them are not too acquainted with the etiquette and protocal of a live theatre show. Let me break it down this way. I spend all week rehearsing and all day prepping. I am nervous and want to make the experience vital, enjoyable and meaningful for the audience and myself. I am onstage working my ass off to tell you a story. I am invested emotionally, physically and psychologically. This is my life’s work. The least you can do is listen, be attentive and not bring your crying baby to the goddamned show!
So needless to say the first 15-20 minutes of the show were rough for me. To tune out the kid. To not break. To give my full attention and energy to bringing the audience into the story. But somewhere at the halfway point I had turned it around and reached that place I love. That place where the words just flow out of my mouth and things are seamless. There’s no effort or thinking. That place where I’m almost not there, and someone else (some other me) is running the show. It was then that I looked out and saw the audience fully engaged watching the story unfold, watching that other me do her thing and I couldn’t believe that I was lucky enough to be a part of the magical thing that was happening.
Take that crying baby!
Tags: acting career, Actress, Arabs, Crying baby, I Heart Hamas, Performance, SF State, Solo show, theatre
