That's what they don't tell you
When they're talking about the history of the theater
The illustrious history
They don't talk about how terrible we were
People now complain
And say 'Oh God, it's gone downhill'
And they lament the olden days
But the truth is--
Yes, there was a golden period
A frame of time
A timeframe
When we were doing really good work
Consistently
Buuuuuuuuuuuut
We certainly weren't brilliant
At the very birth of it all
No, trust me
That was one ugly baby
We did a play called 'The Hostage'
This Irish play that nobody does anymore
And I played--
Oh, I don't know
A lass or somebody
A wench
Who knows?
I was only in the show
Because I had dated the Artistic Director
In New York
The previous summer
He said, 'Hey, I'm going to do this show in this town
This small town
And maybe, like, start something there'
'Start what,' I asked
'An acting company,' he said
I had no intention of being in an acting company
Not in some small bullshit town
Just so I could have steady employment
And do political Irish theater
But Beau, the Artistic Director
And my then lover
Had other plans
That's how I ended up living in that awful little town
Until I died forty-three years later
Of a severe brain hemorrhage
Anyway, that's depressing
Disregard that
The point is--
We were bad
Right off the bat
We were really bad
I'm talking dropped lines
Missed entrances
And the whole thing was performed
In the basement of some church
So the entire time we were making our bold political statements
Jesus was staring down at us from the cross
Looking even more judgmental than usual
Of course, it might have just seemed that way
Because we were all drunk at the time
After our two-performance run was finished
I told Beau I was going back to New York
The show had flopped
Only six people had seen it
And two of those people
Left when they found out
It wasn't Bingo night
But Beau was sooo happy
After that last performance
When we were done putting away the folding chairs
And drawing a mustache on Jesus
Just to be subversive
He took me out in the parking lot
And...
Well, he proposed to me
And, because I was young
And stupid
...And pregnant
I said--'Sure'
So I guess, in some ways
I was the first member
Of the acting company
Against my will
But all the same
My mother used to say great things come
From humble beginnings
Well, my marriage didn't turn out to be all that great
And my son...
We had our differences
And the theater?
Well, it's still here, isn't it?
After everything that's happened
The show has, in fact, gone on
I guess there's something beautiful in that
And also, sort of sad
It's like art, you know?
It's all about how you look at things
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