This post almost turned into a really long 'Short Story';😄 but this is an incident that happened years ago in DB, and one, that I think of, very often.
A student of mine, who was once playing the main role in an Annual Day Production in school, suddenly forgot his lines on stage, in the middle of the dress rehearsal; and there were a few moments of a very awkward silence, during which all the other actors on stage, just stopped and stared at him.
...and after a little while, this boy, who was actually a 'fabulous actor', just very casually continued his lines, as if nothing had happened.😆
At the end of the show, when I asked him what had happened, he said, "Miss, it was nothing. I was just taking a 'DRAMATIC PAUSE."😂
I laughed so much at his answer, that day; and have used it as an example, when training the children to act, for years after that; whenever I had to tell students, not to worry or panic, if they ever forgot their dialogues on stage.
I know my teacher friends back in DB, are busy getting set for the Annual Day at the moment. In most Salesian schools, the 'Annual Thanksgiving Days' happen somewhere around the Feast of St.John Bosco. I guess, that's why this memory popped up, in my mind today.😊
This is the first year, after almost two decades, when I'm not part of the preparations...and so every few days, I find myself wondering about, what must be going on in school, during this time.🤔
Really can't help missing it all. Being part of the Planning, Co-ordinating and Writing process year after year; and together with the other teachers in school, training the Comperes, the Actors, the Singers, the Choir, finding just the right Music and Songs, working with the teams helping with Stage set-ups, Props, Sound, Lights, LED graphics for the Backdrops, Choreography...and the countless little things, that went into staging huge School Productions, was always so much fun.
Sounds really exhausting, when I think about it now; and it definitely was. I used to need a few weeks of rest and lots of sleep, to recover after it all, every year. But, it also gave me the opportunity to use and develop, so many of my 'Creative Talents' and the large variety of things I learnt in the process, from the different people we worked with every year, was so wonderful too.😊
It used to be a very hectic two or three months, from around November to January; because the other events, academics, exams, (and worst of all) paper-corrections,🙈 in school, kept happening simultaneously too. The end result though, was always so satisfying, when I would see almost 1000 students and more, standing on the huge stage 'together at the Finale', from the 'Sound Console'. That was where I would always be, from beginning to end; because like most big events, that was kind of the 'Control Centre', from where everything could be co-ordinated.
I loved how ex-students coming back to school for the Annual Days, always came there directly, if they wanted to meet me.They somehow knew, that they would find me there; because that was where they saw me every year, on the Annual Days. It kind of became my 'permanent spot' for years.😊
It has been more than a decade, since that, 'Oops, what's my next line?' incident, happened on stage; but it always makes me 'Smile', whenever I think about it. Somehow, I have never forgotten that 'tiny little hiccup of a story'; and especially, that boy's 'Fabulous Answer'.
As a teacher, there were many times, when our students taught us little lessons like that one...I think, what that 13 or 14 year old child taught me, is that there may be many times in life, when (like the forgotten lines of a play) things just happen a little differently, from the way we thought they would...Instead of getting worked up about it though, all we can do, is to just casually and calmly take a 'Dramatic Pause'; and eventually, things will fall into place, exactly when they need to.️
Life is 'the Biggest Production' of all, but it's only just 'A Play', to which we haven't seen the script yet; and as a result, we have absolutely no clue how the next scene might unfold...Of course, I guess not knowing how it's going to end, is what makes a story more interesting...and the 'Author of Life', somehow always knows what He's doing, even when we don't. After all, He is the one Co-ordinating this fascinating Production, from His Control Centre, 'Somewhere Out There'.✍️✨️
* (Shared this last year, on the 18th Jan '23. FB memories reminded me of this 'Story-Time' post of mine today; and since I'm trying to revive this dormant blog and collect as many of the random things I've written over the last few years as I can find, in one place, I thought I would post this here as well.)
