|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:44 am
Gently was ready for the day. Up bright and early, she was eager to get to a coffee shop, get some coffee from said shop of that specific kind, and then get to the theatre.
She was going to help with a small child's performance being put on there that night. It was a show from a local school, though volunteers from the neighborhood could participate if they had signed up for it. It was some classic Christmas stories, shortened and made to keep younger children's attention for half an hour at a time.
It promised to be fun, and Gently liked kids. From the young ones in the intended audience to the older kids who had signed up to help out.
Or the ones who were just in it for a chance to be on stage.
Whatever the case, she liked them. Coffee now in hand, she opened the doors to the theatre and went inside, expecting the volunteers to be arriving early to help put up the set. Hopefully, at least: she really didn't want to do it all herself.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:44 pm
When it came to theatre, Hayden did not disappoint. If there was one thing she had never procrastinated—a miraculous feat—it was definitely participating in and assisting in a drama production. Without fail she memorized her lines and blocking and even assisted with building the set (as long as someone gave her directions, anyways).
For once, she had woken up early in the morning today. Bubbling with excitement she quietly slipped out of her room so her roommate would be undisturbed. Her parents had suggested that she not participate in the child’s production. Finals were coming up and she needed to study, they said. Hayden joined anyways.
She rode her bike to the local theatre, standing rather than sitting on the uncomfortable cushion seat. Sitting on it for too long always made her bottom sore. Hayden pedaled at a slow pace and paid special attention to the snowy streets. Sliding on ice would not be a pleasant experience.
Theatre in sight, she spotted a familiar figure unlocking the doors and stepping inside. She grinned. Hayden put on the brakes and happily hopped off her bike, kicking the stand before she scurried after the older woman. “Gently! Trying to set everything up by yourself?” she chuckled.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 4:23 pm
Gently heard a familiar voice and turned to see Hayden coming toward her. She grinned and nodded her head, turning the key and holding the door open for her. She bowed, like that had been her plan all along, and everything had been timed so well.
"Of course! I do love doing hours of work all by myself, for no extra pay! I'm almost disappointed you've shown up," she laughed, shaking her head immediately. That was the opposite of being true, of course, and she would not let Hayden escape now without working.
She left the door unlocked for any others, just in case.
"I am glad you showed up, though," she said sincerely, "I think this show could be good, but perhaps it might be better if the sets weren't left entirely to the woman with limited to no artistic abilities. Plus, my stature doesn't exactly lend itself to building anything... ah... tall."
But the two of them together could, clearly, handle everything! Gently just liked working in teams, having some company, as it always made the work seem easier or, at the very least, more fun.
"Anyway, everything's built. We just need to piece it together and make it fit on this stage."
The eternal problem of building a set off site and bringing it in for opening.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:09 pm
Hayden mock-frowned at Gently. “Gee, Gently. I’m sorry I had to show up and ruin your fun! I just couldn’t stand the thought little ol’ you hauling all that wood into the theatre by yourself.”
“No problem,” she insisted with a smile, “I just really love theatre and want to help out as much as possible.” She laughed. “Yes, I suppose it would be wise to keep you away from the artistic side of the set, but I’m afraid I can’t really help with the height department either.” Indeed, though Hayden stood at a decent height of five-foot-six, it did give her as much as an edge in reaching tall places as much as the taller, lankier people on the technical crew. It was worthy of envy until one of them bumped their heads into something. Heh.
She strolled down the aisle, hands idly brushing over the empty chairs that filled the theatre. “Awesome. Are they in the back?” inquired Hayden, who secretly hoped that the hunks of wood were light enough for the two women to cart them on stage and adjust as needed. The back of her mind ruefully told her that it was probably the exact opposite, but she couldn’t stop herself from being hopeful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2011 8:00 pm
"Well, I suppose I can forgive you. It would be selfish of me to keep all the fun to myself, anyway, hm? No, you're right, it's better if we both enjoy all the physical labor fairly."
She chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, they're back here," she said, leading toward the stage. She climbed up onto it though the middle, not bothering to climb up the stairs to either side. She moved to the back and opened the loading doors, finding some set pieces waiting. Apparently they had already been by, left the set at the door, and got out of there before they had to put the set up.
"It looks like mostly flats," Gently said, looking over the pieces. There weren't too many, but they varied in sizes. Navigating them and carrying them would be the most difficult part, but she was sure, seeing the lot, that the two of them would be able to handle it.
"Alright, let's get the bigger pieces in first. The boxes here are risers for the kids to stand on, but we can do the flats that go behind them first."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:04 pm
“Sharing is caring, after all,” agreed Hayden with a knowing nod, smirking.
She followed the older woman’s lead and quickly hopped onto the stage. “Awesome.” Hayden leaned over to peek over Gently’s shoulders, glad that all the props and parts of the set had safely arrived, but silently cursing the crew for not attempting to put everything in place already. Well, this was exactly why she had purposely arrived early.
“Lovely. It seems God is on our side today,” she joked as she ambled over to one of the flats. It was somewhat tall, since the piece of wood had a bare, snow-covered tree neatly painted on it. Hayden eyed the flat, considering the best places to grasp it. After all it was a flat, therefore it was . . . flat. “Okay, where do you want this tree to go?” She asked after curiously staring at the prop. Scratching her head, she glanced at the stage and searched for any possible hints for placement. “Somewhere off to the side?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 12:03 am
Gently laughed and nodded.
"I suppose you could say that. God, or the tech crew. Though, I think if it was either, or both, they could have done better to put everything inside. Beggers can't be choosers, however," she shook her head, then glanced at the set piece Hayden had picked out. It was rather cutely painted, and she smiled.
Children's theatre was always so fun.
"I think we can put this one in the back. It looks like it's meant to have something in front of it. I'm sure we'll get it together somehow! And if it's not right, they'll just have to deal with it," she chuckled, though she doubted, once again, that it was too complex. They were children, after all.
She imagined Hayden could manage the flat by herself, so she moved to hoist one of the heavier platforms in, shoving it until it got caught on something, then she made to repeat the process, until everything was close to the stage, though not yet in place.
"Hmm..." she thought out loud, looking at the boxes for the risers. "I hope they come with instructions."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:26 pm
“Beggars can’t be choosers, indeed,” Hayden echoed with a reluctant nod of her head. She reached over to grab the tree flat into an awkward hug, bending her back and shuffling toward upstage. Grunting, Hayden plopped the large prop and scurried a few feet away to gauge her placement. She contently nodded her head and looked over at Gently, briefly watching the adult move the platforms in place. “Still, it would’ve been nice if the crew put the things in their general places.” Hayden sulked for a few seconds before toughing up, walking over to the stack of boxes.
She squatted down, elbows brushing her knees as she contemplated where these were supposed to go. “Instructions would be nice, is there a sketch of the set anywhere? A miniature replica would be great, though.” Hayden stood back up, peering back stage to see if someone had kindly left behind directions for where each prop should go. “We could just go off of memory and intuition, but that might not end so well,” she suggested.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:38 pm
"Ah, yes. I thought they would leave something. We've got spike tape on the floor but ah. Well, we'll wing it. There's not much now. I just don't know how to put these risers together."
She hummed thoughtfully, but didn't look perturbed. She got a knife and opened the box, which had been taped up for travel, pulling out the pieces for the first set. There were only a few, since there weren't that many kids in the production, just enough for all the kids to stand on awkwardly and mostly pretend to sing, or sing the wrong words.
Always a blast, children's theatre.
Gently pulled out a piece of paper, letting out a triumphant 'ah ha!'. Everything they would need was in each box, which was limited to the wood and plastic parts, and an allen wrench. "This should be easy! Like building a model plane. We'll get these up and we'll almost be done!"
She looked excited, grinning at Hayden.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:31 pm
“The tape works, but things would be even better if there was a sketch,” Hayden sighed, idly undoing one of her thin braids and re-braiding it. She sighed again and ambled over to Gently, already coming to terms with the lack of a plan. “Let’s just hope we don’t get the set completely wrong.” She highly doubted it, but it was still possible.
She patiently stood next to Gently as she pried the box open with a knife. Once the woman began taking out pieces of plastic and wood Hayden bent down to assist her. “At least something here has instructions we can follow.” She laughed, leaning over to closely examine the paper. The unfamiliar diagrams overwhelmed Hayden the first few seconds, but after another couple moments of scrutinizing the pictures she finally understood the gist of it.
Smirking, she reached in to eagerly grab a wrench as well the main parts of the risers. “I love it when work is so easy.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:56 pm
"I'm sure the kids won't mind it if we do," she chuckled, imagining the kind of chaos the poor people directly all the kids would be in if they tried to re-block everything last minute. Young children were not the easiest to teach how to move around the stage when one had the time to do it, let alone under a last minute schedule.
But she was confident they'd be able to find everything its rightful place.
"Right? I think more things in life should have instructions. And yet, it's really fun to work without them. The things that need instructions don't have them, like... life things, you know? But silly things like these risers, which we could probably fake our way through, have very specific guidelines. I'd rather do it on my own, you see. I think building things from nothing and seeing what you get is exciting."
She chuckled, working from the instructions despite what she said.
"Of course, it wouldn't do this lot any good, so I suppose we'll stick to what's written."
Soon enough, the risers were assembled, with only minor complications and some 'extra' bits that probably weren't meant to be left out. She jumped up on down on them, to test the strength, but everything held. "Ah ha! Now we just put these in place with the rest of it, and we'll have ourselves a set!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:06 pm
“Just simple things like building or setting up a place should receive instructions—if only to make the process faster. I like the uncertainty of navigating through life,” agreed Hayden as she walked over to the box and assisted Gently in pulling out the plastic bits and pieces. “People sometimes complain that life is boring, but it’s only because they make it boring. Meeting other people, for example—trying to figure out what people do and think and feel. It’s really interesting, once you think about it.” It would be unsurprising if Hayden decided to study psychology once she got to college—assuming she even got there.
Hayden chuckled at the woman’s point. “It is interesting; to wonder what kind of riser we’ll get in the end. Hopefully it’ll be a good one.” She jokingly laughed, but silently hoped that they would not epically fail. Smiling, the girl leaned over to glance at the instructions and examine the diagrams neatly outlined on the thin paper.
At least the instructions were easy enough to follow. There were a few misunderstandings, Hayden noted as she amusedly grinned at the small pile of extraneous bits. She glanced at Gently as she hopped on the riser and threw her an approving thumbs up. “Fantastic! It’s supposed to be somewhere in the back, right?” Her eyes glowed. Finally, the set would be ready!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 7:15 pm
Gently chuckled and nodded, glad Hayden agreed on this one simple view on life. Not that Gently needed to agree with someone on anything to like them. But someone who liked a challenge, who liked to figure things out, was always a mark above the others.
Gently laughed and looked at her.
"I agree! Things can be boring or fun, depending on how you look at it. There's always difficulty of course, and there will always be people you don't get along with, but I just take that as another challenge to figure out, you know? And you're right! That is interesting. Do you like studying people like that?"
While they chatted, the rest of the work seemed to be getting done. It was nice to be able to have an interesting conversation and feel accomplished at the same time. A good day, despite the bumps and slight confusion.
"Just right here," she said eagerly, once the set was finally complete. She had Hayden help her lug everything into place, and soon enough they had a fairly cute scene, flats in the back, risers in front of them but still upstage.
"Perfect! Thank you so much! It looks good, if I do say so for us," she beamed, thinking the production would be happy with it, and they'd be able to tweak anything if necessary. But it was a simple show, and she imagine this was good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:48 pm
“A story isn’t interesting until the writer throws in conflict, after all,” a smiling Hayden noted as she reached over to snatch up a rolling bolt. “I like observing people and thinking about their actions, yes. I don’t think I could stand formally studying behavior, though.” She laughed, though she spoke truthfully. Hayden could barely stand the minimal studying she did for St. Magdalena. Studying even more for a lame degree that would get her a lame job? Hmph.
“There?” Hayden confirmed as she bent down for a better grip on the flat. She obediently followed Gently’s lead and together they finished dragging the props into their appropriate places. As they gently eased the last flat into its right spot, Hayden happily let go and stretched out her arms, sighing at the small aches in her muscles. She placed her hands behind her head, pulling at her elbows to feel the relieving stretch of muscles.
“No problem!” She grinned and surveyed the set, pleased with the job that the two had done. It was not the best, but given the fact that it was set up by a pair of women it was pretty damn good. Folding her hands behind her back, Hayden smiled and hopped off stage to plop into one of the auditorium seats. “Is that it? Or do we need to do other things?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:54 pm
Gently shook her head, gazing at the set. She might do some touch up work before the others arrived, but then again it wasn't necessary. Nor was it her job, considering it wasn't technically her set. But she liked to help, at any rate. She was still debating, but when Hayden spoke to her she smiled and shook her head.
"I don't think so!" She clapped her hands and stretched her back, rolling her shoulders as she held her hands together in front of her, arms straight.
"I think we're good and done now. Thank you so much for your help, I would have been in over my head without you, surely. You saved me a lot of work! And it was fun. You're a very interesting young lady, and I'd like to talk to you again some time. I write this... silly blog, about people, and I think you and I have a lot in common, as far as people watching goes. But you understand things differently than I do, and that's interesting!"
She cleared her throat, sitting down at the edge of the stage.
"But ah! Another time. For now, I think we're all done. Thank you again! You can go home if you'd like." She smiled brightly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
