Lights, Camera, Action

     Thirteen days, twelve hours, and sixteen minutes. Not much longer, a little less than two weeks. Counting down the days, and soon there is less than one week left. Everything is in a rush, tech week upon us. Lights, camera, action: everyone dressed in ridiculous costumes, everyone wearing overdone stage makeup painted like a mask over their faces, and stage crew running everywhere to adjust mics and props. 

     I had been dreaming for this chance for so long now, I had lost count of the years. A chance to produce and perform my very own play. It stretched two hours in length, a work of art I had written two years earlier. The time had finally come, and we had rented a theatre for three weeks. 

     As I walked around, examining the set and costumes, I smiled to myself. Everything was perfect, exactly the way I had imagined it. On the large, double platform stage was a beautifully painted backdrop colored with bright green trees and a calm, blue sky. A door was set in the middle of the stage, and from the chairs for the audience, you could clearly see the difference between both sides of the stage. One, like what I just described: a peaceful, ethereal scene with lush trees and a cloudless blue sky. On the other side of the stage, the set was depicting a stormy, dark setting. Trees had fallen over from lightning blasts, and smoke appeared in the distance. The sky was dark and grim. 

     The cast walked from the dressing rooms, to backstage, to onstage, and back again. Some were rereading the script, double-checking that they had memorized their lines. One girl, the lead role, walked by in her tattered dress for a costume. She was repeating her lines over and over again to ensure that she wouldn’t forget them on stage. Another member of the cast stepped onstage to make sure that one of the props was in its proper place. His costume was one of the more laughable ones, not seeming to fit in with the others. He was dressed like a toadstool, but his role did not come into the story until act two. 

     The play itself was similar to a fairy-tale, complete with magic and true love. It was both a romance and a comedy, mixed with magic and a sorcerer to complete the fairy-tale effect. The main character, Gerda, found herself in the middle of a house fire. She fled the area, running through the woods and the burning trees until she came across a lone door in the middle of the forest. She opened it tentatively, and on the other side she saw a whole new world. It seemed as if it had come from a book that she had read in her leisure time. Before she could decide whether it was safe or not, the wall of fire came and pushed her through. When she woke up on the other side of the door, she found that the door had disappeared, leaving her alone in a different world. The story follows her journey as she explores this new world, ends up making new friends, and falling madly in love. Gerda must then find a way back to her world and her family, but an evil sorcerer stops her from going back, believing that she is the key to fulfilling his plans. 

     As the tech crew messed with the lighting, my friend and co-director came up beside me. “It looks pretty good for a full costume rehearsal, don’t you think?” 

     “Absolutely. All mics are working, right?” I asked. 

     “Yep! All that’s left now is for you to say, ‘lights, camera, and… action!’” She said. 

     We both grinned toward each other. I was extremely thankful to have Rebecca by my side as we directed this show. We had both recently turned seventeen, which was a pretty young age, but for years we’ve both wanted to write and direct a theatrical performance. And now, we finally could. However, it was a lot of work. Especially on top of high school and honors classes. 

     Once we were finally ready to begin, both Rebecca and I took our seats in the empty chairs that would belong to a (hopefully enthused) audience in the near future. Just as I sat down and became ready to make an announcement, I heard my name being called from the sound booth in the back. 

     “Hey May! Can you come look at this sound transition real quick?” Shouted Jonathon. 

     I set my blank clipboard in my seat and made my way up to the booth. As they explained the difficulty, and I did my best to help fix the problem, Rebecca made the announcement for me. The show would start once the curtains opened, and everyone would need to be in their positions once the intro music ended. 

     And then the performance began. We watched as the cast performed, from the action to the romance to the comedy. By the bows at the end of the show, I had a bright smile on my face. The show had been beautiful, and I had few things to comment on. Rebecca had caught a few minor problems that I hadn’t, and I realized how much of a good team we make. After that night concluded, and we were ready to perform the following weekend, I was able to get a good night’s sleep. 

     However, my calm attitude soon withdrew the next afternoon. Apparently, I had been so caught up with my studies and the show that I hadn’t had a chance to watch the news channel. There was a new disease, one that was unheard of, and it seemed to have spread overnight. Now it was no longer only in South America, but it had spread north through Mexico, toward Texas, Oklahoma, and other states. I began to worry that it might spread to Alabama soon, which is where I lived. 

     The next day, the disease had spread all the way through Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee. It seemed to be moving fast, as if it were in a race with something else and couldn’t reach the finish line fast enough. I only hoped that there would be a finish line, and a quick end to this virus. 

     Suddenly, out of fear, schools shut down, churches moved to giving online services only, movie theatres were closed, and stores and restaurants were closing left and right. I didn’t have school that day, and I was close to a mental breakdown. 

     This new virus, one that had killed more people than the flu kills every year, showed no signs of stopping. It was unreal how quickly the whole community and economy could shut down. From watching the news, we could tell that the doctors had no idea how to stop the spread or the disease itself. 

     And now we could no longer do the show. We tried postponing it, but no one knew when the theatres would reopen. All of our hard work. Put to waste. I hate it the most for the actors and actresses. They spent so much time and hard work on memorizing their lines and the blocking and the cues. I am hoping that this virus will simply pass over us, and be gone in a few weeks at most. But nothing is ever that simple. 

     The next day, I called Rebecca. 

     “Hey, how are you doing?” I asked. 

     “I’m fine. There’s not much I can do. We’re all scared that the disease is going to spread to us. My whole family is on lockdown. The only time I spend outside of the house is when I go on walks.” 

     I thought for a moment. “What if- by chance- we somehow ran into each other on separate walks?” 

     It was almost as if I could see her smiling through the phone. “I don’t know how that would work,” she said. “But I’m going on a walk at three in the afternoon.” 

     “Well, enjoy your excursion,” I said, smiling brightly. 

     “Thanks, I will. Have a good day!” She hung up, and I immediately went to tell my parents that I was going to walk the dog later that day. 

     When the time came, I grabbed the light pink leash from the hook in the wall by the back door, and called my dog over to me. Once we were all set to go on the walk, I shouted to my mom. 

     “Bye mom! Love you!” 

     “Bye! Love you, too, May!” 

     And without further hesitation, I set out on the walk. I journeyed down the street, making a left turn once I reached the stop sign. Walking along the cobblestone paths that led to various parts of the neighborhood, I hummed a soft tune to myself. There were hardly any people outside, and I assumed that most would stay indoors. In the safety of their homes. 

     Soon enough, I came across Rebecca. She was walking her dog, Skylar. He was a Labrador Retriever with soft, golden fur. He was panting, as it was hot outside. My dog, Molly, was a Labradoodle with a reddish-color fur. She was also panting from the heat, but she was small in comparison to Skylar. She was petite. 

     “Long time no see!” I said as we approached each other. 

     She laughed. “It’s only been a week.” 

     “Has it? It feels like it’s been a lot longer than that.” 

     “I know, this pandemic is awful.” 

     “It feels like it just happened overnight. I hate that we had to cancel the show. I pretty much had a mental breakdown the other night.” 

     The dogs chased each other, tangling the leashes in an impossible knot. Rebecca was dressed in a light blue T-shirt that brought out the blue in her eyes, as well as denim shorts and tennis shoes. Her wavy brown hair flowed down past her shoulders, and she wore a baseball cap from the Dodgers baseball team. 

     I myself was dressed in a pair of black biker’s shorts and a gray tank top. My shoulder-length blonde hair was put up in a ponytail, and I was also wearing a baseball cap. The only difference was that it wasn’t a sports cap, and instead had a book quote stitched onto it. 

     We continued walking. The sun was high in the sky, and we were on a sidewalk surrounded by trees. “Do you think we’ll ever be able to do the show?” I asked. 

     “I’ve been thinking about that a little. I’m not sure that we will be able to rent the theatre, but what if we made our own stage? We still have the props and costumes.” 

     “Where would we make the stage? Everywhere is closed.” 

     “That’s where you’re wrong. There’s one place that isn’t closed.” 

     “And where is that?” I asked. 

     “Outside, of course,” She pointed to their surroundings. “If we can manage to gather an audience, then we can put on a show.” 

     “But how are we supposed to gather an audience? There’s a virus going around!” 

     “That’s the only flaw to the plan.” 

     I sighed. 

     “We’ll figure it out.” Rebecca said. “I know how hard we’ve worked. We can't let it go to waste.” 

     We enjoyed the rest of our walk, and so did Skylar and Molly. Rebecca and I had come up with a theory that our dogs secretly liked each other, and we’d always talked about the cute couple they would make. 

     When we finally split ways, we said goodbye to each other and I headed home. 

     “How was your walk?” asked my mom, the moment I stepped in the door. 

     “It was good,” I said. 

     “Where’d you end up going?” 

     I hung up the leash and let Molly go. “Just around the neighborhood, near the elementary school.” 

     “Cool. We’re having an early dinner tonight, by the way. And school’s cancelled for the next month, at least.” 

     “I still can’t believe that. I doubt we’ll have school the rest of the year. There’s only two months left, anyway.” 

     “Hey, look on the bright side,” My mom said. “No end of the year exams!” 

     I grinned. “True. I’ll be upstairs, mom.” 

     “Okay. Have fun!” 

     The day continued, and I didn’t do much at all, except for think of all the issues this pandemic was causing. There were only a few stores open, and I couldn’t see any of my friends. Well, I saw Rebecca on my walk, but that was it. No school. No church. No performance. 

     At last, darkness came and it was time to go to bed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find sleep. I tossed and turned for hours, my thoughts racing. I was still thinking about school, and how I was missing some of the more fun, end-of-the-year projects. But at least I was missing the exams. It then occurred to me that they might make us take the exams from home, if we didn’t have school in person. They could have us take them completely online, and monitor our screens while we were at it. We’d already begun studying for the tests. 

     Then I sat up in bed so quickly that my head became dizzy. I knew how we could do the show. I lunged for my phone, which was plugged in on my nightstand. I turned it on, the bright screen blinding me temporarily, and scrolled through my contacts until I found Rebecca. I called her, begging her to pick up. 

     After a few seconds, she answered, and her sleep-filled voice came through the phone. “This better be good, May. You do realize that it’s one in the morning, right?” 

     I glanced at the clock on my dresser, realizing she was right. “Doesn’t matter, you’re awake.” 

     “Only because you called me,” she groaned. 

     “Anyway, I’ve got it!” 

     “Got what?” She sounded like she was about to fall asleep on me. 

     “I figured out how we can do the show.” 

     “How?” 

     “We film it, and stream it online! We can set up a stage outside, like you said, and we can film it.” I explained. 

     “Genius! Can we talk more about it in the morning? I never get sleep, and for once I’m getting sleep, and then you call me and wake me up.” 

     I laughed. “Sorry, and yeah. I just wanted to tell you.” 

     “Great.” I could hear her yawn through the phone. “Goodnight, May.” 

     “Goodnight, Rebecca. Talk to you later.” 

     I hung up, and crawled back in bed. Having come up with a way to save the show, I finally found a world of dreams. 

     The next morning, when I woke, I immediately went straight to figuring out a way to create a temporary stage in a park. I called Rebecca, who seemed much more rested, and we set to work. We used the money that we got back from the theatre to build a new backdrop and platform, and we found a way to hang curtains from a beam. Once we planned everything out, we alerted the cast. Everyone agreed to the plan, and we were ready to begin. 

     After a couple weeks of setup, we were ready to film. An old friend of mine gladly agreed to film for us. He met us at the set location, and the cast began to take their places for the opening scene. Everyone was in costume, and everyone was ready to roll. Including myself. 

     And then we started. “Lights, camera, action!” I said. The curtains opened, and the performance commenced. 

     The action was beautiful, and the film was perfect. After we filmed each scene, we set to work on editing. Just days later, we were ready to post for those who had bought online tickets. We actually had even more tickets purchased than when we had in-person shows! Over the past week, we had advertised the show on several online media sites, and the news had since spread even further. 

     My entire family had bought tickets, and I sat down one evening to watch the stream with my parents and siblings. At her house, Rebecca was doing the same. I imagined most of the cast was. The streaming began, the popcorn came around, and the curtains opened. I smiled to myself, my dream finally coming true.