That Dream

I had that dream last night. You know the one. The one where you have to perform but you haven't rehearsed. Sometimes its rehearsing without the script or thinking that you have a rehearsal but actually there's an audience. There are variations, but it comes to the same thing - blind terror and abject humiliation.

Do other people get this dream, too, or just theatre people?

In my dream this time, I had a to perform my one-woman theatrical adaptation of Helen Lester's classic, A Porcupine Named Fluffy. The thing is, I have only "performed" this peice one time, six months ago, and it isn't really suited to a full auditorium setting, which is where my dream took place. It's told with felt pieces being moved around a felt board. The nuance doesn't really read for audiences of more than, say 10. Certainly not 150. And in my dream, the book that I was using to help tell the story was different from the one I adapted, so I had to remember the story from scratch. But I was so determined to get through the thing with some dignity that even when my alarm clock went off half way through and relieved me from the pressure of the situation, I determinedly went back to sleep so that I could finish the show. Is that dedication to the craft or what?!? Skeptics might point out that it was FREEZING this morning and even on-stage embaressment in front of a large crowd was preferrable to getting out of bed this morning.