Toads in the Hole

Beware, a Litte After the Ides of October

Two weeks ago, we went to our next-door-neighbors’ yard party, and enjoyed an evening of chatting up most of the students in the University of South Dakota’s Masters of English program. One of these students, Kari, quickly revealed herself to be a former drama student, and an instant friendship was produced. We hungrily leaped upon her every reference to shows and actors we’d seen and not seen, and descriptions of the theater program at the U. With her usual vivacious enthusiasm, Kari encouraged us to audition for the fall production of Julius Caesar. We were excited, it had been hovering in the back of our minds to try out for a play, and the possibility of taking part in an academic production was one of the benefits of our going to a state school. But neither of us had actively pursued the idea. “When are auditions?” Kari grinned and said, “In three days.”

Did we really want to be in a play? The question kept coming up as we threw together our audition material. With every measurement of pros and cons, we wavered.

Aimee would have to miss an important symbolic step in her nursing education: The Pinning Ceremony. Equivalent to Joel’s White Coat Ceremony, this formal moment acts to welcome Aimee as she takes her first step toward becoming a nurse. How would it feel to skip it?

Aimee had also just experienced a very chaotic first few days of class. As such, she didn’t really have a handle on what her assignments and responsibilities would be for the rest of the term. Would it be fair to sign up for a show without knowing all the possible conflicts?

And what about our course loads in general? We’re supposed to be here to focus on our studies, to become healers. Did it make any sense to take time away from that?

And what about our relationship? If one of us was cast and not the other, how could we stay connected?

With these questions and more heavy in our hearts, we auditioned. The auditions went well, and we were both cast, Joel as Julius Caesar and Aimee as Cinna the conspirator.

So, should we accept the roles?

Aimee learned that she could attend the Pinning Ceremony next year and, more importantly, receives and can wear her pin this year. Also, her confusing first week of class finally ended with a great many questions answered and a study routine established. Joel’s classes continued to go well, with anatomy centering on the head and neck (What doesn’t he know about the head and neck?), and his second biochemistry exam going swimmingly. Also, we were in the show together, and Caesar and Cinna perform in many of the same scenes, granting us most of the same rehearsals.

Most importantly, we want to be deep and dynamic people. We recognize that a monomaniacal focus on our schoolwork makes us unhappy. More people drop out of our programs for emotional/familial than academic reasons. And, for the rest of our lives we intend to be many things in addition to healers. One of the things we make room for is art. We believe that activity in the arts will make us better at everything we do, and, hopefully, our work as rebuilders of people’s bodies and minds will enhance our abilities in the arts.

So, without further ado, we've accepted the roles of Caesar and Cinna.

The crossover surfaced almost immediately ... In our first rehearsal, our director explained iambic pentameter to us as “dah-duh, dah-duh, dah-duh. Which, if you listen to it, is just like the ‘lub-dub, lub-dub’ rhythm of the heart.” Aimee, having just come from her vital signs lab, nodded vigorously. Our training allows us to bring a new and larger thought-world to our acting. And to our marriage. And being in a play will spill back over into everything else.

Posted by Us at September 9, 2004 10:54 AM | TrackBack