HELLO!

I love to be part of amateur theatre, specifically church productions. I have written, directed and performed in several. It all started when a local medieval reenactment society offered a musical in downtown Halifax. The man who was to play a Bishop became ill and they needed someone, fast. Two members attended the church I then served. I was recruited. I added a few words, expressions, movements, to my small role and was noticed. Soon I was added to several local productions, the weariness of my ad-libbing and “hamminess” was overcome with the way audiences reacted. But in time, some directors were no so keen. “Stick to the script, do not steal the scene”, said those directors who wanted a more professional presentation. I learned which type of plays to join, directors who enjoyed my lack of anxiety and ability to connect with a crowd and didn’t care about how I made the most of small roles. I can’t act, sing or dance. I know my limits. But in an amateur production, where the audience is made up of friends and family who are eager to see their loved ones on stage for the first time, having one actor who is comfortable, loud and entertaining, is considered an asset.

Our cast over these three performances were nervous and anxious. I was not. I was, am always, embarrassed by my lack of talent. My skillset, and this is NOT false modesty (ask my friends and family), is very, very limited. My late mother would say, “it’s not that you can’t, it’s that you won’t, and if you can’t master something in five minutes you never do it again”. I am not sure that is accurate, but I have never forgotten it. I do think “none of us are good at everything”. I remember learning this as a child, some boys in my neighbourhood were very talented at sports, like me. Others were very musical, they could sing, play instruments. Others were good with gadgets. I was the worst student in music class and shop class, by far. But I was always the first chosen when teams were being assembled in hockey and baseball. I remember looking at the uncoordinated kid in right field (where we put them) and thinking, “that’s me in choir, at our industrial arts sessions”. It’s OK to admit you aren’t gifted at all things and celebrate what you can do. Being loud, reading faces in a crowd, quick on my feet, and knowing how to weave stories into presentations, I am the kind of person at a party who knows how to introduce like-minded people to each other. But when the storm hits and you need people with practical skills to fix things, make things, know things, I am dead weight, a burden. Lucky for me most people are good at the practical, not the public, which makes spaces for me.

I had a lot of fun at our dinner theatre. I was delighted to be permitted to be my “hammy self”. I will add the number one comment I received after each night was, “you said you were the only cast member not mic’d and you were not kidding”. Being loud has its perks. Peace, Kevin