The Show Must Go On

Episode 158: The Show Must Go On Everyone has a show must go on story. Sets fall, lines are forgotten, sometimes the light board catches on fire. In this podcast we hear a number of different “show must go on” stories that all emphasize the same point: No matter what happens, you have to keep it together and keep that show going. Except maybe if there’s a bat dive bombing the actors. Show Notes Theatrefolk Podcast Episode Transcript Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, and theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 158. You can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at theatrefolk.com/episode158. Today, we are busy today. We’ve got lots of different pieces to put together. I’m telling stories. Craig’s going to show up later. We have interviews in not one but two different states. It’s busy, man – good busy, though. It’s active, right? Today, we have an active podcast. Today, we are talking about The Show Must Go On. If you are in theatre, if you have ever been onstage, you have a “show must go on” story and we have a bunch for you. The impetus for this podcast is I was adjudicating a festival a couple of months ago and one of the shows started and everything started fine. And then, an actor came out and she was supposed to say one thing and a completely different thing came out of her mouth. There was a moment of silence. The actor looked strained. And then, she ran offstage. I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never seen someone just be in a moment of such panic that the only thing that they felt they could do is leave. But what happened onstage was amazing because they just carried on. It was as if this run offstage was in the script and people threw in lines that weren’t there. There was a musician who was supposed to react and he was right there on cue and I had read the script so I knew that there was something awry and it was obvious that there was something a little bit awkward about what was going on but it was a play acknowledging the fact that it was a play so the awkwardness really worked – even to the point when one of the characters said in character, “I don’t know what to do right now!” It worked! They were going to keep going. Soon after that, the student director for the piece came down the aisle, from the booth, walked onstage and said to the audience, “We’re starting again.” The actors looked at her and went, “Okay.” They just went into action and they got back into their place. They started over and you never would have known that there was an issue – even with the girl who ran offstage. She came on and she did her thing and you never would have known. I was just so impressed with the ensemble to keep the play going – not only to keep the play going but they were going to keep going. They weren’t going to stop. The show must go on and they didn’t think to stop or break character. That, I think, is remarkable. And that, I think, is something that we all want to give to our students. There’s a better word, I can’t think of it right now, but to emphasize to our students about what “the show must go on” really means. It’s about that community and helping each other. I’ll have my own “show must go on” story later. It’s not pretty but it’s great for aural listening. No video. Now, we’re going to head over to the Southeastern Theatre Conference where I asked teachers about their “show must go on” experiences.