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similar in that everything extraneous to the ongoing action is tuned out,
with the exception of the audience's audible and visible responses, which
are often used by the actors to tweak their performance in real time (this,
by the way, reminds us that theatrical audiences are not strictly passive
and may be said to infl uence the action). For actor and audience alike,
the ultimate reality is what is happening in the imaginary world on the
stage—the representation.
When the Lights Went Out
It's 1973 and I'm doing my MFA in Theatre at Ohio State. We are in
Act I Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Richard III on the main stage. I am
playing nasty Queen Margaret, who curses tremendously well.
In this scene she goes after several characters, ultimately King
Richard. At this point in the scene she is warning Gloucester that
he is in danger from Richard's aspirations and bemoans her own
fate (the loss of her son and husband):
Duke of Gloucester
. . . but I was born so high,
Our aery buildeth in the cedar's top,
And dallies with the wind and scorns the sun.
As time goes by, I see that I
accurately predicted where
my wrinkles would be.
Queen Margaret.
And turns the sun to shade; alas! alas!
At this moment, the lights go out on the stage. The actors pause briefl y, then continue with
the scene in the dark, as emergency lights come on in the audience. I think it is strange to be
in the dark on the stage, seeing the audience eerily lit, but only for a moment. The heat of the
argument burns through the strange sensory experience for the actors and we continue the
scene to its conclusion.
At the end of the scene, the actors go down to the green room to see what's happening
(normally we would have a bridge game going). We learn that there has been a blackout over
about half of Columbus. The rest of the performance is cancelled. The next morning, the
Colum-
bus Dispatch
reports: “Queen Margaret Curses Play into Darkness.” This is my fi rst inkling that I
may have supernatural powers.
