dear internet,

once i was in a production of the wizard of ozˆ. the girl playing dorothy is in movies now, but i was never destined for greatness. i was a munchkin, and spent my time at rehearsals with my cousin (also a munchkin) and my best friend (a bluebird from over the rainbow). i liked being in choir. i was young enough for everything to be commonplace: the taste of dry ice, the heat of the spotlights, the warren of unlit corridors that connected backstage. mostly i remember drinking juice from tetrapaks and having blush smoothed across my cheeks, and the mean senior from my school who delighted in scaring us while in tiger costume. lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

i think it must have been the first dress rehearsal when this happened: my cousin and i discovered the winding stairs that went up to a second set of dressing rooms for the "adults", who i realise now must have been teenagers. we crept up the stairs and peeked through the door and we saw the wicked witch of the west, green face and tall hat, and we were terrified, we ran back down the spiral staircase and straight into the arms of the good witch, who saw our scared faces and let us sit at her feet while she told us it was just makeup and everything was going to be okay and her name was tabitha, and the entire time we were convinced she really was the good witch, saving us from the wicked witch. when i think about theatre i think about this: the dark quiet of backstage, and my absolute belief in the story i was helping to tell.

love,
t