It's worse on the third day....

My oral surgeon left me a note that I should not be surprised if my jaw/cheek/everything else hurts worse on the third day after the surgery than it did on the day of it. Actually, I wasn't in any pain the day of the surgery -- I just had it done 'cause I knew if I didn't I would have to sooner-or-later when the pain would be too bad to suffer. Well, he was right! It's the third day and my jaw is screaming at me. It might not have helped that I had a lot of talking to do during rehearsal tonight.

One of the up sides to community theatre is that you get people who are really interested in making your production work. People want to be seen doing well onstage and they're very willing to do what they need to in order for the production to be a success. Sadly, one of the down sides to community theatre is that there's basically no budget. That means that either the technical director (that would be me) has to find/buy/make all of the costumes and props or he/she has to delegate that job to the actors. I'm a great delegator. I love delegating things to other people, especially if it's something I don't want to do in the first place. If it's very important and is critical to making the production work, I have a harder time letting-go of something. But otherwise, if there's a prop or costume piece that an actor needs, I find it best for them to go out and find it so that they're comfortable with it (not too big/heavy/etc.) and because they'll be using it and I cannot afford to purchase everything. True, there are theatrical rental houses, but I can't afford that, either.

Tonight I started our rehearsals by giving everyone a list of the props they'll need and other set decoration pieces we'd like to have. Many looked at me as if I were insane, asking me to find something for themselves. I'd already told them they needed to bring their costume pieces and that they'd be responsible for their own costumes, so I guess asking for props was a little "over-the-top" for some of them. Then I found out that one of our actors quit, leaving us with a role to fill with just three weeks before the production. That's another down side to community theatre -- they're volunteers so they can come-and-go as they please and there's not much you can do about it.

Fortunately, tonight our director decided to try a few new things with the play and different people took on the parts where the actor that was cast didn't show up tonight (we were missing quite a few). We had a great time as everyone started laughing and having fun and it helped those of us there to continue the "theater bonding" we need to make the show look like an enjoyable performance and not a bunch of strangers reciting lines. Hopefully we'll have as much fun tomorrow night!