The Theater of the Apocalypse

So how did you spend the Apocalypse? We were in the theater most of the day.

The theater is probably the safest place to be in the event of any planned end of the world, since nothing in the theater is susceptible to any sort of rational planning. Things just sort of work themselves out, and eventually the curtain falls. I have always thought that if there were ever to be an actual Apocalypse, it would be kind of like that. Or at least it should be.

Although in the theater, sometimes there are snacks. Will there be snacks when the world ends? I certainly hope so. Also, beverages.

Today was the big 4H play competition down at Home Campus.

Of course people can turn theater into a competitive sport. People turn cooking into a competitive sport. Why not theater?

Our 4H troop has been diligently rehearsing for some weeks now, every Wednesday night, under the watchful eye of Director Jamie and Student Director Addie, polishing up a nifty little African-derived parable about how the mosquito got to be such a buzzing nuisance. We joined in a bit late, due to other commitments, but Lauren signed on as an owlet (trust me, in context it made sense) and Tabitha ended up running the lighting board.

We were the only one of the 4H clubs who thought to have lighting cues. Competitive edge!

We also had kick-butt make-up, mostly done by the kids themselves. Another competitive edge!

The day started early, with all of the various set-up that such an event requires, and – with nearly a dozen groups trying to put on 10-15-minute plays in the same space over the span of a morning and an early afternoon, none of whom were given any real directions as to how this was to go – it was appropriately chaotic.

Somewhere in there I lost my camera, so photos will be somewhat delayed. You'll have to take my word for it.

But despite an audience that simply would not stop talking or at least tone down the volume so that those of us who wanted to listen to the acting actually could, it all worked out in the end. Our 4H troop was the 7th one on the schedule and only went up half an hour late. Everybody remembered their lines. Nobody fell off the stage. The owlets were appropriately adorable. The lighting cues happened more or less exactly where they were supposed to happen. And the judges gave them each a blue ribbon.

I’m not sure what that entails for the next round of Theater Kombat: The Reckoning, but we were happy.

And the world did not end, though there were snacks.