1448/Let's Make A Scene

Let's Make A Scene
Date of Scene:	30 April 2020
Location:	Theater - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Patty Verdon, Damian Wayne, Samuel Morgan, Colette O'Connail

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Patty Verdon has posed:
"... And so my mother had taken me with her that day to deliver some of the church pamphlets to some of the actors. She had me stand at the backstage entrance while she went to the ladies' dressing rooms.... and wouldn't you know it? Everything was up, from the backdrop to the grand drape, and I could see clear into the house." The woman speaking is of advanced age, but her reedy voice and vivacious gestures paint an energetic figure as she stands, rail-thin and dressed all in white. It is customary for any speaker on the stage to have a light trained on them, but this woman seems to glow with a soft inner light that makes most lighting unnecessary. "The lights were on, and I remember a very special sense that permeated the whole stage. I felt, and hear this well, I felt like I was in a holy place. It was then that I knew what I wanted to do with my life, at eight years old... I went home that night and I told my father what happened, and I asked him... 'Daddy? Can I decide I want to lay down my life now or do I have to be older?' And he said to me, 'Patty, you can decide you want to lay down your life at /any/ age', and I replied 'Daddy I want to lay down my life right there, I want to be on that stage!'"

She raises a finger, "And he said to me 'Be careful what you set your heart on, for you are sure to get it.'" She lets a moment of silence pass, and then she smiles broadly, "And I have never regretted that decision for one moment. I have learned that the arts, and especially this world of drama, it surrounds everything. I can guarantee you that every single one of you will find a use for it in your lives, if you only choose to give it a chance to let it enter your world." Looking out into the crowd of assembled students, the woman adds "If you doubt me, I invite you to speak to me after the class, I am sure I shall make a believer of you before we are done."

And with that, she spreads her arms to her side and says, "And with that, I release you to your regularly-scheduled classes. Thank you for coming and I hope you will consider taking my class next semester if you are not enrolled... and, of course, we all wish Miss Armstrong the best of luck in New Zealand in her... er, new vocation as a shepherdess."

It had been one of those last-minute revelations for the former drama teacher. Fortunately, Patty had already been in talks about coming on board as an expansion of the theater curriculum was being considered. This was not how she had planned to come in, but professionals knew how to improvise. "Class dismissed!"

After dismissing the students, the older woman walks over to the TA with a radiant smile, "I think that went rather well, don't you think?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian was not a neophyte to dramatics. His mother made it a priority to train him how to blend in and to deceive. In fact, apart from some dealings with a certain TA and one student, he maintained a guise of a fully adjusted boy. Well, mostly adjusted. Okay, he's a homeschooled mess socially. But he was raised as such. The League needed an heir, not a normal child.

  So in fact he did not question the teacher in front of him. And merely walked off after his class without incident.

  Okay, that's what he would wish he had done. But despite his better judgement, he stayed seated as the rest of the students left. Quietly respecting the silence of the theatre.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    In the aisle seat, nearer the back but still plainly visible from stage without the harsher flood lights, the blue-eyed, blond haired teenager looks on. Impassively. There is, in fact, no emotion on his face. Off to Vegas to win the poker tournament, is what we're trying to describe here. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. He's here because he was summoned, and he's listening attentively, but in the way someone would pay attention to an instruction manual of a particularly expensive piece of hardware... to be read, to be memorised, perhaps to be recalled later, but certainly not read with pleasure and absolutely not perused out of a genuine desire to know what's in it.

    This changes when the phrase 'lay down your life' is used. It's the raising of a single eyebrow, which lowers not too long afterwards. It's the minimalist motion of the Pierrot scolding the wayward clown. Next to the teenager, a German Shepherd sits in the aisle, likely the reason the boy is sitting in that seat in the first place. In his hi-vi vest, the dog provides a smattering of color to his human's otherwise fairly nondescript visage.

    When everyone is dismissed, Sam stays, shares a glance with the green-eyed Damian, and shrugs. Acting. For him it's always been a matter of life or death, quite literally. In his career Sam has been dozens of different people, all of them unique, and all of them blending in to their surroundings.

    Honestly, he might as well have some fun with the skill for a change.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    "You must have been quite the performer in your day," Colette says with a slightly surpressed smile. "I'm sorry I wasn't alive to see it. Shepherdess, really? Is that what they told you? Tell me that's not what they actually told you. The guy's name /was/ Shepherd though. Jasper Shepherd. I met him once. What an ass, she would have been better off staying here."

    She glances sideways at Patty. "On the other hand, then we wouldn't have had a drama teacher who glows. That might help bring in more potential thespians. Unless they are worried you are radioactive."

    Colette's eyes scan the crowd of students as the students progress out of the class, picking out a few faces, curious to see who'll take the opportunity offered and who will walk away. Drama attracts a varied range of people for a varied range of reasons. Add the curiosity of a glowing drama instructor and you've added another reason that might appeal to some, or drive away others.

    When the crowds clear leaving Sam and Damian behind, she gives Patty a small smirk. "Well, well. I recommend Bear for Il Dottore."

Patty Verdon has posed:
"Oh, no, dear," Patty waves a hand at Colette with a sly smile, "But we don't exactly need to /say/ things out right without a little imagination, now. Of course, I do draw the line at any jokes about shepherds' crooks before an audience that hasn't yet turned eighteen."

Following Colette's glance, she notices the two stragglers and lets out a little 'hmm', "Well, what do we have here... let us see!"

She walks over to the edge of the stage and sits down there, her legs dangling off the edge as she peers into the house "Either I have said something that caught your attention, or you were bored stiff and fell asleep and have just woken up. What are your name, dears? And what prompted you to stay?"