4
“This isn’t a proscenium stage,” Mom’s voice rang out over the actors who were being overly rambunctious for a 7:00 a.m. rehearsal. “You don’t have the audience only on one side. The audience is surrounding you. You have to play to all sides.”
“Excuse me, Ms. Miller,” a tiny freshman piped in. “I thought you said we were supposed to cheat out so the audience could see us.”
“You were supposed to cheat out when we had a stage.” Mom’s voice was a frightening mix of fatigue and frustration. “Our stage burned down, as I am sure you remember.” All the theatre students nodded as one. “Since we don’t have a stage, we are going to be performing in here.” Mom swept her arms around, indicating the gym. She did it in an exciting and enthusiastic way that didn’t show how depressing it really was t
