To those of us joining us for the very first time, I welcome you and hope you will find us everything you hope us to be. For those of you who have followed us hither and yon on our peripatetic odyssey, from Hafer Park to U.C.O. to the Water Stage, to Bicentennial Park and now back to the Water Stage again, I congratulate and thank you for your persistence, loyalty and patience. We cannot express our gratitude other than our pledge to do our best to honor you with equal devotion to our task.
It's not easy, is it, being a patron of O.S.P. Let's face it, on a hot and breezeless evening it's not hard when the planes soar and roar overhead to let the random thought distract you from the show at hand. The lovely view of the water itself can prove a distraction when the birds "bird" and the strollers stroll, a real life so disturbingly at odds with the life of the play. Which I sometimes wonder is more real, or perhaps more true?
Why bother, then, after the hassle of locating where we are this season, to put yourself through all of this to see a play? I would venture you are addicted to the adrenaline rush of having the rare thrill of participating in a live performance, being a crucial part of a performance never seen before and never to be seen again; for it is your reactions, your laughter, your rapt silences, your restless stirring when you are unengaged that vary each performance and give the actors their particular cues and tasks for that one evening alone.
Also, like any endeavor that incorporates an element of danger, an auto race, a downhill slalom, a live performance, there is always at hand the danger of a crash. A missing prop, a dropped line and the dreaded missed entrance can suddenly confront even the best rehearsed actor with a crisis of his own, far outweighing the imaginary conflict facing his character.
What does the character of poor Bernardo in Hamlet do should the Ghost miss his entrance cue? Supposedly Bernardo is "distilled to jelly with the act of fear." Facing the real prospect of having to ad-lib in blank verse the actor is probably more like jello than jelly.
"Methinks I hear, but DO NOT SEE - yet - a ghost!"
So please enjoy what we have so carefully prepared for you tonight in what we hope will be an absolutely flawless and perfect performance. Of course it will not be so. The "danger" of every moment of live theatre is what keeps us coming back for more. But if you will join in the game and "piece out our imperfections with your thoughts", you will have participated in the first, last and only performance of tonight's play. And so, prepare ye for a lark!
Sincerely,
Kathryn McGill
Executive Director / Artistic Director
