The Play

The lights shone and dazzled the audience, capturing their gaze and childlike awe. For a moment they forgot where they were, not in a theatre, nor in a picture house projecting actors and staged replicas of life, but in life itself. Not regarding consequence, not mindful of future events, but seated comfortably in the shared embrace of a single, rare, and precious moment.

As the rolling curtains of red and white pulled back slowly through unseen hands, the stage was set, the actors revealed in their places; ready, zealous, and poised to give an unforgettable performance. A hush fell and the audience once more stared wide-eyed intently.

The play began.

Leading, growling, and tearing across the stage, the central performer brashly delivered lines both darting and direct - vibrant, life affirming, and yet dangerously unimpeded. The audience gasped as the supporting characters followed suit, dancing, and striding from background to foreground; a beautiful choreography of assumed direction, flair, and purpose.

A young child restlessly and full of glee, asked a parent to explain what was taking place, but they simply squeezed their child's hand tightly, shaking their head and looking on. Several smirked, mocked, and ridiculed the sincerity of the moment with callous cruelty. A yell rang out from above in the cheap seats, a scream not of understanding or revelation but of recognition, acknowledgement of the skill and meaning on display.

Tears were wept at the beauty of it. Minds fractured by the sight of it; memories, regrets of days gone by seeping in through the cracks. A chorus sang a muddled melody; a bombastic symphony of celebration and rage, the score and soundtrack of the actors pacing up and down, walking their presumed rehearsed places over and over, hurtling towards one another. For a moment the audience did not know if direction had been given, or if the actors had merely surrendered to the spectacle, improvising and immersing themselves in a fluid, organic performance.

The lead actor now stood centre stage while a domineering character came in to view. Were they lovers? Were they enemies? Were they the unwitting combination of a cold randomness, or perhaps the pawns of an unknowable mind? The two circled one another at speed. Closing in, their bright outfits melded together into one indefinable haze, smiles or frowns left unilluminated, their feelings obscured - a playground of dizzying centrifuge.

Thoughts turned to panic as the two actors touched in a final embrace, the art-form provoking a vast myriad of responses from the audience. Mothers and fathers held their children, friends turned to thoughts of words left unspoken, things once prized and cherished exposed as meaningless, the unconcerned paying little attention, and, for all too few, bitter disappointment at utter failure and what might have been.

The lights shone brightly for one glorious instant, then nothing. The play was over. No applause, no standing ovation. For a cold dead world now wandered through the night, dreams left undreamt, and hope extinguished.