Thespian Pursuits

When I was in the seventh grade at OK School, I had an English teacher named Mrs. Wilbur.  She was easily the most popular teacher in the school.  She had a big personality and was extremely influential.  I liked her.  She taught us a lot but also challenged us to be as good as we could be.  I won’t say that I was the teacher’s pet but I can’t quickly think of another term.  It doesn’t matter.  Here is what happened.  She was in charge of the drama department.  I don’t actually think that OK School had a Drama Department, but whatever was Drama related, Mrs. Wilbur was in charge of it.  Each year the Drama group would put on a play.  It turned out that Mrs. Wilbur, unbeknownst to me, had purchased a play called “Bertie Makes A Break”, written by Henry Gregor Felson.  She decided, again, without even talking to me that I was going to be cast as Bertie.  The day came for auditions for parts and I decided at the last minute to not be part of the play.  I guess that went over like a ton of bricks.  I was told by my classmates that Mrs. Wilbur was extremely upset and disappointed that I didn’t even try out.  I ended up having a change of heart.  Did audition and as Mrs. Wilbur had already decided I landed the lead.  It was actually a lot of fun to do the play.  I never thought I would be able to remember all the lines but there were people that helped with that.  As it turned out the play was a success.  There were no future plays for me.  I don’t know maybe part of it was that I wanted to do other things, maybe it was because Bertie was a fat 15 year-old kid with all kinds of self-esteem problems and I didn’t really relate to Bertie.  The only legitimate comparison is that we were both overweight.  Mrs. Wilbur had type cast me as a fat teenager with all kinds of issues.  It didn’t turn out to be a springboard for me as an actor.  No regrets.  I found out that I really enjoyed acting and being in front of an audience.  I was a bit of a ham and that made things work for me.  In the future I would have plenty of opportunities to “perform”, and speak publicly in front of large groups.  I cannot think of anything, other than writing, that gives me more enjoyment.   

Maybe I should rethink how much I liked Mrs. Wilbur.  She was a great teacher but for her to put me into a play that made a point of my being overweight, and having all kinds of self-esteem issues.  All that kind of sucks.  I guess I didn’t realize until later that Bertie was a fat kid with low self-esteem.  During the rehearsals and the performances I was just the kid with the most lines and most time on stage.