The Backyard Theatre Troupe

CLAIRE

"Okay, people, listen up!" I shout. I'm standing on top of a wooden crate we sometimes use for our shows. "Let's see Scene 3 from the top. Sianna, take it away."

Sianna starts to pound away at the piano as Ollie and Rai enter the stage. Ollie, who plays an old wizard, hobbles along with a sour frown on his face. I laugh. Rai, as the stunning fashionista, sashays right into him and they collapse to the ground. Really, they didn't hit that hard, but I had instructed them to "make it big". It's what my drama teacher Mr. Collins always said.

"Oh, pardon me, madam." Ollie stands up, leaning on his cane. "Why, if it's not the one and only Miss Gateson!"

Rai gives him that sassy look that she's so good at. As her best friend, it's been directed at me many times. "Do I know you?"

Ollie falters, and turns red. "Uh... line?"

"It's: Your question is irrelevant," I tell him. "Honestly, Ollie, we're two weeks to opening night! You should be off book!"

"I know, I know," he says. "I really knew that one!"

We practice for another hour until my mom brings out a basket of apples and we take a snack break.

Oh, I'm Claire Allen. I'm sort of well-known around Roverton, because my friends and I have a special business. You see, we all love acting and singing. So in the summer, we run our own theatre troupe. We call it Backyard Theatre, because we rehearse and perform on a special stage my dad built in my backyard. We started when we were little, doing small improvised skits. Now that we're thirteen, we write our own scripts. Plays, musicals, the occasional opera (but that was a flop); you name it, we've tried it. At the end of August each year, we put on a performance. We call it a free will donation, but nearly everybody puts money into Rai's elephant piggy bank. It's always fun, and we even get a bit of pocket money out of the deal.

I should probably introduce you to the troupe. First, there's me. I'm kind of loud, very creative, and funny. I write most of our scripts. I like to sing, but I'm not that great at dancing. I have strawberry blonde hair that falls to my elbows and green eyes that my dad says are "eternally twinkling".

Then, there's my best friend Rai. She's a dancer through and through. Tap, hip hop, ballet, she does it all. She likes to act, and can hold a tune pretty well. She's taller than me, with chocolate skin, curly hair, and neon yellow glasses.

Next is Ben. Ben is our techy guy. He prefers not to be onstage, but we made him play the narrator in this show. He's a whiz with lights and sound. Right now, he's not rehearsing with us, because he's rigging up the lights. He has sand-coloured hair and glasses. Rai thinks he looks a bit like a blond Harry Potter, but I don't see it.

There's also Sianna. She is a musical genius. All of our songs are composed and accompanied by her. All of us want her to be in a production, but she refuses. Sianna is an amazing singer, but she's too shy to take the stage. She has shoulder length brown hair and soft brown eyes.

And finally, we have Ollie. If I'm the leading lady, he's the leading man. He's a killer actor, and definitely can hold a tune. Ollie is Sianna's twin brother, but aside from their similar looks, you would never know. Ollie can't play piano, let alone write a song, and he's the complete opposite of shy. He has the same eyes as her, and wavy brown hair.

The five of us have known each other since we were babies. We all live on the same street too, which makes organizing rehearsals easy. Our moms, who were all pregnant with us at the same time, would get together for "baby group" every week, whatever the heck that was! But we all grew up side by side, and now here we are, soaking up the last weeks of summer before high school. I can't wait to go to the bigger school; with lockers, a cafeteria and (squeal) maybe a school musical!!

After rehearsal is over, everybody but Rai goes home. She and I head upstairs to my room and flop on my beanbags. My room is pretty big, and has gigantic windows and yellow walls. It's always bright, which is the way I like it.

"So?" Rai says expectantly.

"What?"

"What are you going to wear to school on the first day?" Rai almost squeals.

"Oh. I dunno." I'm not really that into clothes and stuff. Likely, I'll put on whatever I grab first from my closet.

"Well, I got this new off-the-shoulder top..." Rai babbles on and on. She's somewhat of a fashionista in real life, too.

"Wait! We should see if our classes are posted yet!" I cry out. I grab the family laptop and boot it up. Rai peers over my shoulder.

"Math, Drama, German, and Science!"

Rai pulls up her classes on her phone. "Dance, Drama, German, and History."

I text the Trouper's group chat, and immediately receive three responses. Ben has Computer Design, Drama, English, and History. Sianna has Math (with me!), Drama, Spanish, and English. And Ollie has English, Drama, Spanish, and Science. I'm really excited because we all have drama together! I start dancing around the room and almost fall over.

"Claire!" Rai laughs, "That is not how you do a pirouette!"

Soon we are spinning around the floor, laughing. My mom calls me for dinner, and Rai leaves. I eat my meatloaf while chatting about today's rehearsal. My parents smile and listen while they feed my baby brother Eli. I talk a lot, if you haven't noticed, but that's just because there's so much to SAY! I don't think I could ever be shy like Sianna, I would burst after a minute!