Good Moon Rising

Chapter Five

"ALL RIGHT, KENT; good. Hold it there." Mrs. Nicholson

leaned against the stage-right side of the proscenium, shifting

her script from one hand to the other. It was the next week,

and they were blocking out the movements in Elizabeth's first

scene. ]an had expected to have trouble watching Kerry, but

she found that she was so busy she felt only an occasional

pang at being out front instead of onstage. Mrs. Nicholsm

had already let her go over some complicated first-act block-

ing with the cast. And she'd been pleased when ]an had made

a suggestion that cleared up an awkward move, so ]an was

paying careful attention now, trying to be alert to potential

problems.

"Kerry," Mrs. Nicholson was saying, "turn away left on your

line—no, no, not yet, on the line, as you say it, on . . The

script fluttered to the floor and Mrs. Nicholson bent, oddly

graceless, to pick it up. "Damnit," she said through clenched

teeth, though ]an had rarely heard her swear. "I've lost the

place."

" Good, then, let you think on it" Jan prompted quickly,

giving both Mrs. Nicholson and Kerry the line.

Jan saw Kerry nod and then rub her shoulders after she'd

made a mark in her script. No wonder, she thought; her

shoulders must be stiff, the way she's been hunching them.

It was becoming more and more clear to her that although

Kerry's voice and line readings suggested Elizabeth perfectly,

her body did not.

" 'Good, then, let you think on it,' said Kerry, forgetting

to move till after she'd said it. Then she made a tense, awk-

ward turn, in the wrong direction and not like Elizabeth at

all.

Kent shot his arm out in obvious exasperation. "Left," he

snapped, spinning Kerry around roughly. "Left, for Pete's

sake."

"I'm sorry," Kerry gasped. "I get mixed up between left and

right anyway, and stage left and right mix me tip even more.

I'm sorry."

Jan was suddenly angry; Kent could be such a jerk some-

times. It was one thing for someone who was professional

enough and confident enough to give it right back to him,

but . . .

Mrs. Nicholson had sat down and still seemed to he hunt-

ing for her place in the script, so ]an vaulted up onto the

stage. "Kerry," she said, glaring at Kent, "stage left and right

are from your point of view, as you face the audience. And"

—she searched Kerry's hands for a ring or some other thing