The Human Condition

Week two has begun. I am constantly learning about and shaping Batgirl. Different audiences help with that. Sometimes you have a laugh out loud crowd. And that makes my job real easy. I know that I am making them laugh. I am funny, good. Then there are nights when there are “smilers”, people who you know are enjoying the show, but are quiet none-the-less. That is what throws me off. It has always been an issue with me and comedy…I think funny = laughs and bad = no laughs. I know that isn’t the case. But I am an actor, that’s my fear - that no one is listening. But I know they are.

A question that I have been pondering recently is line drops/mess ups. This is a big damn show to memorize, especially in a short amount of time with limited rehearsals. And sometimes mistakes happen. It happened to me…big time. But I got over it, didn’t run off the stage (thank God), and the non-theatre people didn’t see my mind explode (which it did). And after that happened, I, of course, got angry and cried. I was frustrated with myself immensely. But why? Was it because I looked stupid on stage in front of all those people? Or was it because I feel that I somehow failed my audience? They are the whole reason I perform. For them. So if I miss a line, flub my words, forget, the audience loses out on the experience…but they actually don’t. They experienced theatre. Live theatre. And sometimes it is messy. Sometimes it is wrong. But it is living and breathing and changing. And that is pretty awesome. Because isn’t failure part of the human condition?

-Liz