“Ready?!?!?! GO!” Screech, grunt, slap, crash. A chain drags across the ground. All common sounds as we set up for one act, carrying out our monumental set out from back shop. A monumental set it was: 5 pieces of scaffolding, two stack on top of the other to create doorways and the last sheeted with boards to create a platform. We brought our own lights, sound, and projections. We even had an elephant and a light up moving clock suspended 15 feet in the air. A beautifully made clock. Golly gee was it swell. Whoever made that deserves a medal, truly. And all of this was set up in less than three and a half minutes–taken down in less than two. This year in one act we performed Around the World in 80 Days in around 40 minutes, despite the title promising an 80 day show. I was thoroughly disappointed about that, if I’m honest. Other than that, I’m very proud to be a part of this show.
I won’t lie–initially this show was very rough. The tech was nonexistent: no lights, sounds, or projections. The acting was lackluster at best, and certainly not loud enough. The only saving grace was the clock. Gosh darn, the clock was beautiful. It’s elegant curves, so supple and smooth. It’s hands, though unmoving, rested perfectly. And yet, even the clock could not save the initial performances. That being said, we improved greatly. While there was still some issues with volume, they were, for the most part, of the opposite extreme: if anything, we were too loud at times, though it may have only seemed that way because it was a video. The energy improved 1000 fold, to the point where, at times, it may have gotten a little out of hand. That being said, it carried the show forward. Momentum is key with such a short show, and the energy the actors brought supplied just what we needed. The tech, I believe, was beautifully run. The lights, though yellow at times, we’re existent, a major improvement on the initial show. The sound too, existed. And the clock.
Oh, the clock. Such sweet, sweet bliss. The hands, turning and turning, endlessly spinning as they tracked the progress of the show. The hypnotic nature of the pitch black scene, with nothing but the clock visible, is not easily forgotten. I maintain that, given time (heh), I could’ve controlled the minds of the judges into letting us go to state, using only the clock. But that is neither here nor there. Watching my sweet clock ascend to the heavens was the proudest moment of my young life. I know I say often that I was not an integral part of the show. That is a dirty rotten lie. LIES AND SLANDER. I was the show. I stole it, molded it, and made it my own. All eyes were on Gieske, to be sure, but all minds were under the unparalleled influence of my clock. Some call me Father Time–I call them fools for addressing me so curtly. The clock is love. The clock is life. And like the show, the clock was perfection.
I can honestly say I’m proud to be a part of this show. It’s much more rewarding than a normal show–I feel as though I played a much bigger part, despite how little I actually did during the show. People counted on me, and trusted me to do what I knew I had to do. And in return, I trusted them to do what they did.
-Danny Seaton (2015)
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