Dark of the Moon

It was Dark of the Moon

That put me over the edge

I don't know how many of you remember it

But it was this play about rednecks

Okies, I don't know

Whatever the hell they were

I didn't like 'em

And this play was performed everywhere

Colleges, community theaters, regional theaters

Just goes to show you

Bad taste isn't something

That was invented ten years ago

Anyway, we were doing this stupid play

About the Okies

The Appalachians

Whatever they were

And I'm getting sick I hate doing it so much

I mean, I'm getting physically ill over it

This was the first show

Of our second season

And we were doing it

In this high school auditorium

Until Beau, our boss, the Artistic Director

Could find us a real space

It was nice though

That auditorium

I wouldn't have minded staying there

Just as long as we weren't doing Dark of the Moon

The company was still, oh I don't know

Taking shape back then, I guess you would say

People were coming and going

But more people were coming

And a few were waiting in line

To work with us

Because now we were getting paid

And it seemed like this theater

Might actually be going somewhere

Plus we had a name for it

Orpheus

Beau's son was born during a production

Of 'Orpheus Descending'

So he was always a little partial

Now here we were

The Orpheus Acting Company

Sounds so--Greek, doesn't it?

We were really Greek back then too

And by that I mean--we were drunk a lot

And fucking anything that moved

So I guess we were more Dionysian than anything

Where was I going with this?

Oh right

I quit acting during Dark of the Moon

One day I'm sitting backstage

Thinking about all the people

Who want to work with Beau

And be in the company

And here I was

Sitting backstage

Getting paid to act

In a show I hated

And I just thought...

This isn't for me

I went to Beau

As soon as the show was over

And gave him my notice

It's more notice than his son gave him

When he popped out halfway through Orpheus Descending

Beau tried to talk me into staying

Because we got along really well

And he trusted me

And...

Well back then

You couldn't trust a lot of people

Maybe it's the same way now

I wouldn't know

I've been dead for...awhile

Nothing he said changed my mind

But it was sweet of him to say it

I just realized that if you don't love it

If you don't love what it is you're doing

Especially when you're an artist well--

Yes, the play was terrible

But I thought--

There are gonna be more terrible plays

And terrible productions

And bad actors

And bad directors

And rather than see all the possibilities of the theater

I just saw the pratfalls

And I truly wasn't interested

Maybe it means I wasn't a very good actor

You know what?

I probably wasn't

...No, I definitely wasn't

So it's better I quit

And went on to become a jewelry designer

I used to send stuff over to Beau

To use in his shows

Because I did miss him

I missed the people a lot

Just not the theater

Not the acting

Not the Okies

That's for damn sure

Still, you're asking me about it

The company

All these years later

And I still only have nice things to say

So maybe it wasn't so bad after all

Oh, not the play

The play really was that bad

But the rest of it?

Well...

The rest of it I wouldn't trade

For anything