Art is Messy

This is what a dear friend reminded me of yesterday as we went into the closing performance of "Midnight Streetlight Smalltown."  She started a theatre company and now their first show is behind them.  What a beautiful accomplishment.  But it wasn't easy.  I have watched her work on this project for long nights into the wee hours of the morning, at times convinced that this wasn't going to work but moved right along with it anyway.  She believes in something and it keeps her going.  She believes in the power of theatre, the power to create the impossible.  One week ago I thought this week would be impossible but I got through it just the same.  I smiled, I breathed, I swore, I laughed, I cried, I sang, I stressed.  But last night I rejoiced.  I was a part of the impossible.  As children we are taught to believe that anything is possible.  As adults we reason out what is possible and replace it with the plausible argument.  I want to switch back.  I am able to create the impossible.  That statement is certainly implausible but I actively reject plausibility to return to the child-like joy of possibility.  Three weeks from today I will be in tech week for "Split: Tales of Escape" at Salem Theatre Company.  I have never put up a show that fast!  It is going to be tough and things might get messy but I'm not sure it would be possible if we didn't make a mess.  A closing thought I would like to share from a theatre company of which I now am a part:

play, as a child plays: with wonder and abandon and joy ~ (the5thwall.org)