Act one
There are two kinds of people in high school. The kids who want to be popular, and the theatre kids.
Carmen is definitely one of the latter
#1 in We're All in this together 20.11.23
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Sorry I'm late. Didn't want to be here." I said as I walked into the fucking bomb shelter where we were holding the first read through.
I had my laptop and a copy of the script and stage queues in my bag, along with my phone, a copy of The Last Days of Jack Sparks, and headphones in case the readthrough got boring.
"Could everyone take their assigned seats?" Miss Jen called.
She turned to me.
"carmen honey, if you'd want to be one of my assistants, you can." she told me.
"Fine. Don't have anything better to do here." I sighed.
I sat down in one of the chairs beside her.
"Who is Natalie and why do I care if her glands are swollen?" she asked Carlos and I.
"Our stage manager. Guess she's not coming." Carlos replied.
Miss Jen looked at Ricky Bowen's Red haired Sidekick.
"Yoo-hoo, ginger boy? Can you read?" she asked him.
"Uh... Not really." he replied, sounding uncomfortable.
In the words of Gilbert Gottfried, why am I not surprised?
"Well, you're reading now. Just the stage directions. Thank you." Miss Jen said.
"Do you know what that means?" he asked me.
"Of course I do." I said with an eyeroll "They're instructions in the script of a play that tell actors how to enter, where to stand, when to move and information about the lighting, scenery, props, and sound effects."
"Oh thanks." he thanked.
"Silence your phones!" Miss Jen told us "I realize that you all walked in here as strangers-"
Actually, I'm friends with three of the cast members, hate one of them, and your choreographer is my brother.
"Actually, EJ's my cousin!" the red haired girl playing Miss Darbus said
EJ sank in his chair.
Rude.
"But after today, you're a family. One tribe, committed to lifting this classic film to new heights." Miss Jen told us.
"Hand. Hands." Miss Jen said.
We all reluctantly held each other's hands.
"Feel each other's energy. Let the silence speak volumes. In a world full of no, this is a space full of yes." Miss Jen told us.
