A couple clambered up to sit not far behind me at the recent staged reading of Water Closet and revealed not only their disdain for the title of my play, but that they were only in attendance to be “supportive” after having read an early draft. “Supposedly it has been revised,” the lady added. They knew I was in the room, but not my connection to the play.

After overhearing their conversation, I grinned. Suddenly all of my anxiety and fear dissipated, as I realized I had nowhere to go but up. During the course of the reading I listened with love in my heart for my characters and their painful stories. I remembered the words of the artistic director who wrote me to “listen to the words” in his kind effort to alleviate my abject terror. I laughed and glowed, as the student actors discovered fresh moments in front of an audience for the first time. I actually had a great time!

Apparently so did much of the audience. For at the talk back afterward I received lots of wonderful feedback, as well as some questions about its emotional linearity. That couple? They did not talk back. They didn’t offer one word to the discussion. And it’s okay. I am really cool with it. Really 🙂