Thinking Life and Death

You take it all so casual, second nature to you now,
You drive away assuming that you'll make it back somehow

Life and death, life and death a whisper in the air...
                                           - John Gray, from the musical 18 Wheels

It seems that I've finally figured out where I'd heard the phrase "Life and Death" before. I was the ASM on this irrverernt masterpiece of Canadian musical theatre back in the 90's. It's a production that features an actual semi truck on stage (or at least we made it look like it was a real truck) and while it's not the deepest show I've ever done (it's written entirely in rhyming couplets) it is one of my fonder memories of my time in the rat race. It was a show that brought out some of the better skills in me (and it was around this time that I earned my "Grinder" moniker, if I'm not mistaken), and while I certainly must have made many, many mistakes and disappointed a lot of people (as I routinely surmised from the way I was treated and talked about at that point in my life) nobody could have argued on closing night that we hadn't together done something amazing.

That was one of the first shows where I really learned what it means to love theatre.

A dozen or so years later and I'm starting to wonder if things have come full circle. I've certainly come a long way, and there have been many shows, good and bad, since that time. Our production of Life and Death is a lot different than Gray's spectacular, but for me it feels much the same. I'm on familiar ground. I know this territory. I feel like I can bring something special to this project. It's not just another show. I'm sure that I will make some mistakes, and I'm not counting my chickens just yet, but I've got a feeling that this is going to be something good.

It's not going to be for everyone - there's plenty of coarse language, violence, adult situations, and yeah, a few people get shot. But mature content doesn't bother me, and if it doesn't bother you I think you'll enjoy this.

Life and Death goes up for two performances only - Saturday August 27th at 2pm and 8pm at the Ennotville Library. Tickets are $15 each, and are available from any cast member, at the door, or by calling 519-780-7593. Seating is limited.

Hope to see you there.

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