Theater people seem to be good at trivia. Is it because they learn so many quirky things when they become characters in plays? Is it because they often research unique topics that many people have never, ever heard of? Or is it because actors are mostly wild and crazy guys?
Quirky things. Early on actors learn to live with their faces, because they talk to themselves in mirrors a whole lot when rehearsing. And a strange quirk of being onstage is that there are never real mirrors. If a play calls for a mirror, that mirror is painted over with aluminum paint, so that it cannot reflect the lights.
Stage fighting is another quirky thing. Sword fights can look awesome. But there are basically four moves that fighters onstage make, over and over. They just sell it in ways that make them look wicked cool. Same with a staged punch. The puncher is not in charge. The person being punched controls everything, right down to the smacking sound that indicates the punch has landed.
If actors are skilled enough to juggle, they have learned not follow the balls with their eyes. If they are dancing, they don’t look at their feet or at or at their partner. Sometimes it is helpful to look at their partner’s feet.
Sooner or later, actors end up dying. Onstage, that is. They die more times and in more ways than they could ever have imagined when they were in acting class. And they learn to do it convincingly.
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Unique topics. I have learned how to make fish aspic, and to eat it while remembering lines. Jell-O with tuna fish, scooped up with an aspic spoon. Never again.
Karo syrup makes a dandy basic ingredient for stage blood. Something vaguely edible is necessary when an actor needs to drool blood after being stabbed through the heart with a stake. Like I said, actors die in many strange ways onstage. And just for the record, Karo blood is way more edible than fish aspic.
Wild and crazy guys. Where else, but in a community theater troupe, could you find veterinarians playing saloon girls? Accountants chasing monsters with a fishing net? Insurance agents barking like dogs or singing like Elvis?
Whatever it is that fills actors’ heads with trivia, it serves us well. And if we are rolling at a trivia match, we can pull those facts back out of our heads. Although I have never, at least not yet, gotten a question about fish aspic.
Our acting troupe is part of a seriously competitive trivia group at the Dickinson Area Public Library. Want to take us on? The next match is coming in June. Watch for it in the events section at the library’s website, www.dickinsonlibrary.org . We will be waiting for you. Game on. And break a leg.
The Trust Project
