Alien Adventures in Space

The definite highlight of the day yesterday was when J and I drove down to the Zach Scott Theatre to see our boys on stage in the culminating production of their week in summer theatre camp. They staged it in their lovely black box theatre. The set decorations, depicting a rocket ship in space, were done by the students, as the theme of the showcase for both Jackson’s and Diego’s age groups was “Alien Adventures in Space.” (Very appropriate, now that I think of it, on the day of the final launch of the Space Shuttle.)

Jackson’s group was first, and Jackson portrayed a tiger. He was “in costume,” wearing a pair of orange and black vertical striped pants and a tail. It was fascinating (and nerve-racking, of course) to watch him on stage. As his parents, J and I were a nail-biting mess.

I say he was fascinating to watch because our little extrovert, our little attention-seeking missile became a shrinking violet before my very eyes. He appeared to be super-aware of all the eyes that were on him – you could see it on his face. Any “lines” he was supposed to have went out the window, including the key moment when the aliens ask him if he eats meat. I’m guessing he was supposed to say yes, which would have scared them away. Instead he said no, and the adult actress playing the lead alien said, “You’re a vegetarian tiger?” She then threw a plastic “steak” on the floor, and Jackson rolled his eyes and went to get it, as the aliens ran off.

Diego’s play was more involved, and we had worked to get him “off book,” with his lines memorized for the last couple of days. If I was nervous for Jackson, I was doubly so for Diego, our shy guy.

As the story – about the Cat in the Hat taking a trip to the planet of Thing 1 and Thing 2 – moved along toward Diego’s first cue, I saw him step downstage to the teacher and ask for his script. She sent him back to his spot, and he tripped over his first line a bit, before one of his fellow space animals (Diego was something called a “gatoraffe”) bailed him out.

After getting through that first line, he delivered the rest of them loudly and clearly. Our “shy guy” did a nice job, both remembering his lines and delivering them convincingly and with feeling.

The whole thing was pretty impressive, considering it was done in four and a half days. Most importantly, when I asked them, both boys said they enjoyed the experience and would do it again.