Chapter 2

The bell sounded and Richard packed his notes into his backpack. “Richard!” He heard Crystal’s voice.

She approached him in a sprint. “Crystal -- what is it?” he asked.

“Let’s go in here,” she replied and gestured toward a vacant classroom.

Richard followed her in. “What is it?” he asked again.

“Have you checked your email?”

“No. I’ve been in class.”

“Trent has assigned our parts,” she exclaimed. “I’m playing Emily Webb!”

“Wow ... congratulations.”

“Thanks. See if Trent sent you anything.”

Richard slipped his phone from his pocket. “I’ll need to turn off airplane mode. The other day Markovych nearly threw a kid out of class when his phone rang...” He manipulated his screen. “It’s syncing up ... come on...” With a chirp an incoming mail icon flashed on his screen. Richard poked his phone to open the email app and read the message.

“Well?” Crystal asked. Richard scanned the message and scanned it again. “Well?”

“He gave me the part of George Gibbs.”

“George? Richard -- You and I are playing the leads!”

He continued reading. “Trent says I read the lines satisfactorily but he really wanted me for the part because I look like George.” He looked up at her. “Do I really look like a callow and indolent sixteen-year-old?” Crystal tilted her head and regarded him. “On second thought don’t answer that.” He continued reading. “Trent says if I’m not comfortable with it he can assign me a less demanding role.” He put his phone in his pocket. “Maybe I should...”

“Should what?”

“Ask for a different part.”

“Why? Trent obviously thinks you can handle it.”

“I’m ... I’m not sure I can handle playing the part ... with you as Emily.”

Her jaw dropped. “What? Why not?”

“It’s not about you -- it’s about me,” he replied.

“Oh, I get it. This is payback for me asking you to stop pestering me for dates, isn’t it?”

“Well -- you did make it abundantly clear that you wanted nothing to do with me. Crystal -- you are exactly the sort of girl I admire. You’re smart and pretty and we have interests in common. I can’t help but be drawn to you. I accept and respect that you’re not interested in me ... but I’m afraid it will get in the way of me playing George.”

“I never said I wanted nothing to do with you,” she retorted. “Where did you get that nonsense idea?”

“You said, ‘it’s not about you it’s about me.’ Brian and I talked it over...”

“Brian? Who is Brian?”

“My roommate. He has a lot more experience with girls and relationships than I have. He said when a girl says it’s about her, it’s really the ultimate brush-off -- go away and don’t come back.”

“Well,” she replied frostily, “Brian does not know everything there is to know about girls. There is nothing wrong with you, Richard. I like you. You’re a nice guy. I think you’re bright and quick and interesting. The reason I said that is ... It really IS about ME. Richard -- I am recovering from physical and emotional trauma and I’m just not ready for relationships. That’s the truth.”

“You think I’m interesting?” he asked.

“I do. That talk we had the other night about eternity, death and heaven ... everything you said made sense and I’m still digesting it. If I wasn’t carrying this emotional burden, things would be different.”

“Gosh, Crystal. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Would you like to talk about it?”

“No ... no, thank you. I’d rather not. And I’d appreciate it if you don’t push me on the topic.”

“Understood. I said some cruel things just now and I’d like to take them back. I’m sorry if I upset you or hurt you.”

“You didn’t ... really. I accept your apology and I’m happy we’ve cleared the air. Richard -- I would enjoy playing Emily against you as George. I think we’d be terrific together.”

He nodded. “I think so, too. So, George it is. I’ll send a note back to Trent saying that I’ll accept the role.”

“The Guild meets three times a week and next session is tomorrow evening,” she said. “We should do some prep work -- you know, read through the parts and familiarize ourselves with them. Are you doing anything this evening?”

“I guess I am, now,” he replied.

“There are some study rooms in Whalen’s lower level. When I get back to the dorm I’ll sign one out for tonight. Would seven be a good time to start?”

“How about six thirty,” he suggested.

“Six thirty. Text me from the Whalen lobby and I’ll come get you.”

“Uhh, Crystal...”

“What?”

“Knowing your phone number would be a big help in texting you.”

“Oh ... yeah.”

She pulled her phone from her purse and they traded numbers. Richard sent Crystal a test message and she gave him a thumbs-up gesture.

“Great,” he said. I’ll see you later.”

Richard slid his tablet into his backpack and headed out the door. “Another Guild session?” Brian asked.

“No -- I’m headed over to Whalen. Crystal and I are doing some prep work for tomorrow’s session.”

“You mean you got a part?”

“Trent asked me to play George and Crystal is playing Emily. They’re sort of the leads.”

“Congratulations,” his roommate replied. “I wouldn’t even know how to act in a play.”

“This isn’t my first rodeo. I was in drama club in high school and did a number of roles. None as big as this one, though.”

“How are you going to deal with working with Crystal?”

“She told me why she isn’t interested in dating and I accept and respect her reasons. I think we’ll work well together as colleagues.”

“What reason?” Brian asked.

“I don’t think I should say any more,” Richard replied.

He headed out the door, made the short walk up the hill and approached Whalen House. It was early enough that the lobby door was unlocked and he stepped inside. From his phone he sent a text message to Crystal’s and received a prompt reply. Shortly he saw her coming through the door leading to the residence floors. She was carrying a manila folder.

He scanned her from head to toe. She wore an aubergine velvet ankle-length skirt with a white long-sleeved blouse. Her coarse and curly hair was up in a bun. “I wore this because it’s sort of period and helps me get into character,” she replied. “The action is set in 1903, you know. How do I look?”

“You look terrific,” he replied.

“I have a study room reserved.” Richard followed her into the dorm’s lower level and through a large rec room and lounge. She led him into a brightly lit room with a folding table and chairs.

Crystal removed two stacks of pages paper-clipped together. “I printed two copies of the script,” she said and handed him one. “I went through and highlighted our lines -- yours in yellow and mine in green.”

“Gee, thanks. Thanks for going to all the effort. I read through the script on my tablet but this really helps.”

“Trent said we should focus on Act One. Tomorrow’s session will be clinics for the main parts.”

“Let’s read through the whole act,” Richard suggested. “You take the female parts and I’ll take the male ones. We can see how it all meshes.”

“Good idea.”

Together they read through Act One. “I think that helped,” Crystal remarked once they finished. “Now, I think we should work on dialogue between George and Emily. Maybe let’s start with the scene in Act One where they talk about school and the moon.”

“The step-ladder scene?” he asked.

“That’s the one...” Crystal flipped through pages. “Right here...”

Facing each other they read the lines.

Richard shook his head. “I’m just not getting George. I don’t know how you do it, Crystal. As soon as you start reading, you become Emily. I feel like I’m just reading words off a page.”

“From third grade through middle school I was enrolled in a youth drama program in Burlington,” she replied. “It was run by the UVM drama department.”

“No wonder you’re so good,” he remarked. “I imagine Emily is a fairly easy character for you to get into. You’re like her -- you’re smart and a good student. She’s maybe a little too smart for her own good.”

“Are you suggesting I’m too smart for my own good?” she asked.

“Maybe...”

“Emily does remind me of me as a junior in High School,” Crystal replied.

“I’m not anything like George. At least I hope I’m not. He’s immature, irresponsible, not very smart ... he prefers athletics to academics and I’m the polar opposite there.”

“You’re not trying to be George. You’re interpreting George. One technique is to try to find...”

“Try to find George in me?” Richard interrupted.

“No. You’re not trying to find yourself in George either. Try to find some aspect you and your character share. There must be something in your makeup that’s also in George’s.”

“Actually I think all the characters are rather bland,” Richard replied,”Even Emily. Let’s run through it again and then call it a night. I have an eight o’clock tomorrow and I need to prep for it.”

Richard stepped into the Whalen lobby and sent a text message to Crystal’s phone.

In lobby

B rite there came a reply.

Soon Crystal stepped toward him wearing the same purple skirt as the night before. “Staying in character?” he asked her.

“I did not wear this to class,” she replied. “It does help me feel like Emily.”

“Ready to head down?”

“Ready but I have some butterflies, though. I’ve made friends with a couple of the State girls and they told me that Trent might be an easy grader but he’s a tough critic.”

“Good to know going in,” Richard replied.

Together they made the trek down the hill to the corner and waited for the shuttle. The minibus carried them to the corner where the Union stood. They then walked to the State campus and to the auditorium.

Trent Lockwood stood on the stage. “Please everyone, take a seat. Tonight we’re having performance clinics. For the newcomers in the group I’ll explain how this works. Two characters will practice their dialogue or soliloquy up here on stage then the rest will offer constructive criticism.”

“Now I AM nervous,” Richard whispered to Crystal.

“I don’t want anyone to feel this is a tribunal,” Lockwood continued. “The purpose is constructive criticism to improve our performance. Any questions?” Lockwood scanned the students. “First up, let’s have our Stage Manager, Andrew, come up and deliver the opening monologue...”

Richard sat beside Crystal in the front row as other cast members acted their parts and received criticism from Lockwood and Guild members.

“Next,” Lockwood said, “George and Emily. Richard and Crystal, if you’ll come up. I’d like to hear the dialogue between George and Emily at the drugstore soda fountain.”

“Uhhh ... Trent,” Richard said uneasily. “That ... you asked us to focus on Act One and that scene is in Act Two.”

“Is it?” Lockwood began flipping through his script.

“Yes,” Crystal replied. “It’s a flashback.”

“Oh, yes,” Lockwood agreed. “It fits so well with what’s in Act One I thought it belonged there. Let me find another scene...”

“Richard and I could read it,” Crystal suggested. She looked into Richard’s eyes.

“Yeah, we can read it,” Richard added. “Give us a moment or two to scan it.”

They stood and scanned their scripts, then mounted the stage and faced each other.

“Andrew,” Lockwood said, “can you come up and introduce the scene as Stage Manager?”

Andrew joined them. Richard showed him the place in the script. Andrew read the Stage Manager’s lines and then Richard and Crystal read theirs.

“Nicely done,” Lockwood said after they concluded. “Please have a seat. Cast? Your thoughts?”

“I thought Emily came across beautifully,” one State student remarked. “George sounded a bit ... forced.”

“I don’t think he sounded forced,” another student remarked. “He does need to project more.”

“I agree,” Lockwood added. “Richard -- your voice needs to come from the front of your face -- from the mask. Not from your nose or the back of your head. I’m sure Crystal can give you some pointers...”

Richard accompanied Crystal as they headed back to the Tech campus. “I didn’t think you sounded forced, either,” she said as they walked. “They’re right about projection. A film star’s biggest asset is his face, but a stage actor’s is his voice. Projecting while sounding conversational is quite a challenge.”