Roads Less Traveled
by Casix Thistlebane
Story 4: the Scottish Play
Part Two
"So you two are traveling the country then, recruiting for this . . . school?"
Emma perched on the edge of her desk, watching Xander and Dawn closely. They sat in the two plastic chairs opposite her. A pamphlet for the Helsing Institute lay on her desk, unopened.
"Basically, yeah." Xander leaned back in his chair, uncomfortable with the third degree style questioning he and Dawn had received. "We thought originally that it'd just be students we were looking for, but we could use teachers as well."
"I'd have to discuss it with my husband."
"Of course."
"And I wouldn't be able to head up until the end of the summer. I'm already doing summer classes here. I can tell you, it would shake up the college and the students considerably if I suddenly quit."
"We know." Dawn shifted. "You're taking all of this really well, Miss."
"You can't get far in the theater without at least a little belief in the supernatural." Emma hopped off her desk and moved toward her window, over looking the street and the dorm across it. "And you two are terrible actors." She laughed. "I never thought the curse would manifest itself like this."
Xander and Dawn exchanged a look. Xander leaned forward. "And what curse would that be?"
"The Scottish play, of course." Emma laughed. "Something inevitably goes terribly wrong in the middle of a production. Here I was, keeping a look out for injuries, trying to keep everyone as safe as possible, and Shakespeare throws a curve ball." She glanced at her clock. "I've got to get to rehearsal. It's our first real tech run, and my stage manager will go insane if I'm not there to back her up." She picked up her bag again, and turned back towards the slayer trackers. "I suppose you two can come and watch. We can discuss details in any down time we get?"
"Sure." Xander stood. "If there really is a curse on this thing, than you should probably have back up anyway."
Dawn laughed slightly. "We've averted apocalypses, defeated demons and vampires, and now, we must conquer our greatest challenge yet: Shakespeare!"
Emma smiled. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. It's not that kind of curse, and I doubt the two of you could do anything to change four hundred years of theater history on one college production–"
Jane burst through Emma's door. Her shirt was on properly again, but her face was still flushed, and her hair still wild. "Emma! Come quick! Robbie just fell into the pit!"
Emma rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Great." She followed after Jane, waving Xander and Dawn along behind her. "We're going to need another new Ross."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Nancy, you're only one who knows all the lines." Emma's hand was pressed to her forehead. Nancy, an unassuming girl in sweats and a black t-shirt, clutched her notebook closer to her.
"I know, Emma, but I'm your stage manager. Who's going to call the show?"
"Besides," Xander muttered, standing a few yards behind them. "Isn't Ross a male part?"
Emma spun. "How good are you at memorization?"
Xander smiled apologetically. "Terrible. I'm a bad actor, remember?"
Emma smiled and turned back to Nancy, who stared at Xander and Dawn in confusion. "We'll get Mike to call the show."
"He's running the light board." Nancy shook her head. "Who are they?"
"Prospective students." Emma rubbed the bridge of her nose. "How about Jane? She's on sound, there's not too many cues, she can take over the light board."
"For most of it, yeah, but what about the 'crack-head' scene? Mike was already complaining they needed a trained octopus for that one. There's no way Jane could do the lights AND the sound for that one."
Dawn leaned over towards Xander. "'Crack-head scene'? No wonder you guys freaked out over your talent show act in high school."
"I've never understood theater, Dawn," Xander shrugged. "I don't think I'm ever going to."
"Look," Nancy was flipping through her notebook, shaking her head. "Maybe we should just postpone performance again?"
Emma shook her head. "We've been trying to get this show off the ground since October. No more delays. I'll perform Ross if I have to."
"No! Emma," Nancy put a hand on her director's shoulder. "You've got too much else to worry about. I'll do Ross, we'll just need an extra hand or two in the booth." She glanced back up at Xander. "Maybe one of the prospectives?"
Xander sighed. "I used to do construction." He raised his hand. "How tough is it to run the board?"
Emma smiled, relief flooding her features. "It's not bad. It's an old board, we can't afford computerized equipment. You're sure you're up to it?"
"We're in town until next week." Xander shrugged. "You said we should stick around to see the show anyway. What do you say, Dawn?"
"Maybe Wood will give me extra credit for this?"
Emma grinned. "It's settled then. Xander, get into the booth. Nancy, let Mike know he's been promoted to ASM. He can show Xander the ropes. Now," Emma turned back to the gathered students by the stage. "Where the hell are our witches?"
"Kayaking." Banquo, an emo-looking kid in Weezer glasses looked up from his script. "With Martin. They said they'd be back in time for rehearsal."
"They'd better be. There's no way we can replace Macbeth himself." Emma gestured for Dawn to take a seat, then strode purposefully up onto the stage. "Warm ups!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Here," Mike handed Xander a long sheet of paper. "This chart lists what happens for each cue. This letter tells you which preset to use, X or Y, this is the cue number. I'll give you a standby and a go for each cue. On standby, you make sure its set up, and respond 'standing by'. When I say go, you use these knobs," Mike slowly moved the two, black switches in an alternating fashion. "To switch from X to Y, or back. Each column represents a slider." He pointed to the numbers lining the top of the sheet, then to the numbers at the bottom of the 30 some sliders on the X side of the board. "These numbers," he pointed out the hand written 1-10 digits in the first row. "Tell you the level for each slider." A graded scale lined each of the sliders, 1-10. Xander nodded. "Any questions so far?"
"If I can drive a wrecking ball, I can do this." Xander was reassuring himself as much as Mike, who just gave him a look, and nodded.
"All right, we've got our blue stage set up on X already." At Xander's confused look, he elaborated. "That's what we call the lights that are on when the audience enters, before the show. We've got the first cue preset here, on Y. Let's practice." He backed up a step, giving Xander room in front of the board. "Lighting cue 1, stand by?"
Xander looked down at the board. Mike already knew that one was ready. "Um, standing by."
"Go, light cue 1."
Xander moved the knobs. The lights on the stage faded from a cool amber to the sinister reds he'd seen earlier. Mike winced.
"Good. Um, that was good. I'm dumb." Mike moved back over to Xander. He pointed to the X on the sheet, and then to the small downward arrow next to it. "That means that you take X down, without moving Y, to create a black out. Light cue two is bringing Y up. Try it again?"
Xander looked back down at the chart, which was slowly beginning to make sense to him. "Yeah." He reversed the knobs again, then stood back.
"Stand by, light cue 1,"
"Standing by,"
"Go light cue 1, stand by, light cue 2."
Xander brought the X knob down, and put his right hand on the Y knob. His left was already in action, presetting cue 3. "Standing by,"
"Go light cue 2."
Xander brought the Y slider up, and the sinister reds reappeared. He smiled, then looked back down at the board, carefully lining up each slider on the X side of the board. Mike reappeared at his side.
"Hey, you've got it! That's cue three you're on there, and as soon as that cue goes, you set up four on the other side."
"Got it." Xander glanced at the sheet. "How much time do we usually have between cues?"
"Most of the scenes, about five minutes. Sometimes it's a lot longer, Ross and MacDuff have a fifteen minute scene that lasts about a lifetime."
"We order pizza, on that one." Jane smirked from the sound board across the booth, where she was fiddling with a mini-disk player.
"On the other hand, at the end of the scene where MacDuff's wife and kids bite it, there's about 15 seconds for three cues." Mike smiled. "That's the 'crack-head' scene. I'll help you out with that one."
Xander nodded, still staring at the chart. "For some reason I never knew that theater was so . . . ."
"Analog?" Jane offered, as she began plugging some wires into the back of the sound board. "That's just us. Our theater budget sucks."
"Technical." Xander looked over at the enormous patch board between the light and sound areas. "And vaguely fifties phone operator-ish."
"Spaghetti patch." Mike offered. "We get to repatch some of the lights in intermission, but Jane should be able to handle that."
"Oh goody!" Jane muttered.
"I thought you said you were a prospective." Mike glanced over at Xander, from where he stood studying the script. "You act like you've never seen a control booth before."
"I'm not a theater kind of guy." Xander shrugged. "Dawn's looking at the theater, not me."
"Well," Mike turned cheerful, and shut the SM notebook. "Maybe we'll convert you. We could always use more technicians around here."
"Especially when you're doing a cursed show." Xander muttered. Mike shot him another look. "Just promise me I won't die?"
"Nah." Mike punched him in the shoulder, causing Xander to wince. "I don't believe in that junk. It's the witches that does it. People used to be real superstitious about that stuff, one witch in a play was doom and gloom. Three? That had actors running for cover. But ghosts and curses? Lot of bull, if you ask me."
Xander laughed softly. "Mike, you just keep on believing that. I'll be here to rescue you when it bites you in the ass."
Mike smiled. "You do that, man, you do that."
end part two
by Casix Thistlebane
Story 4: the Scottish Play
Part Two
"So you two are traveling the country then, recruiting for this . . . school?"
Emma perched on the edge of her desk, watching Xander and Dawn closely. They sat in the two plastic chairs opposite her. A pamphlet for the Helsing Institute lay on her desk, unopened.
"Basically, yeah." Xander leaned back in his chair, uncomfortable with the third degree style questioning he and Dawn had received. "We thought originally that it'd just be students we were looking for, but we could use teachers as well."
"I'd have to discuss it with my husband."
"Of course."
"And I wouldn't be able to head up until the end of the summer. I'm already doing summer classes here. I can tell you, it would shake up the college and the students considerably if I suddenly quit."
"We know." Dawn shifted. "You're taking all of this really well, Miss."
"You can't get far in the theater without at least a little belief in the supernatural." Emma hopped off her desk and moved toward her window, over looking the street and the dorm across it. "And you two are terrible actors." She laughed. "I never thought the curse would manifest itself like this."
Xander and Dawn exchanged a look. Xander leaned forward. "And what curse would that be?"
"The Scottish play, of course." Emma laughed. "Something inevitably goes terribly wrong in the middle of a production. Here I was, keeping a look out for injuries, trying to keep everyone as safe as possible, and Shakespeare throws a curve ball." She glanced at her clock. "I've got to get to rehearsal. It's our first real tech run, and my stage manager will go insane if I'm not there to back her up." She picked up her bag again, and turned back towards the slayer trackers. "I suppose you two can come and watch. We can discuss details in any down time we get?"
"Sure." Xander stood. "If there really is a curse on this thing, than you should probably have back up anyway."
Dawn laughed slightly. "We've averted apocalypses, defeated demons and vampires, and now, we must conquer our greatest challenge yet: Shakespeare!"
Emma smiled. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. It's not that kind of curse, and I doubt the two of you could do anything to change four hundred years of theater history on one college production–"
Jane burst through Emma's door. Her shirt was on properly again, but her face was still flushed, and her hair still wild. "Emma! Come quick! Robbie just fell into the pit!"
Emma rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Great." She followed after Jane, waving Xander and Dawn along behind her. "We're going to need another new Ross."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Nancy, you're only one who knows all the lines." Emma's hand was pressed to her forehead. Nancy, an unassuming girl in sweats and a black t-shirt, clutched her notebook closer to her.
"I know, Emma, but I'm your stage manager. Who's going to call the show?"
"Besides," Xander muttered, standing a few yards behind them. "Isn't Ross a male part?"
Emma spun. "How good are you at memorization?"
Xander smiled apologetically. "Terrible. I'm a bad actor, remember?"
Emma smiled and turned back to Nancy, who stared at Xander and Dawn in confusion. "We'll get Mike to call the show."
"He's running the light board." Nancy shook her head. "Who are they?"
"Prospective students." Emma rubbed the bridge of her nose. "How about Jane? She's on sound, there's not too many cues, she can take over the light board."
"For most of it, yeah, but what about the 'crack-head' scene? Mike was already complaining they needed a trained octopus for that one. There's no way Jane could do the lights AND the sound for that one."
Dawn leaned over towards Xander. "'Crack-head scene'? No wonder you guys freaked out over your talent show act in high school."
"I've never understood theater, Dawn," Xander shrugged. "I don't think I'm ever going to."
"Look," Nancy was flipping through her notebook, shaking her head. "Maybe we should just postpone performance again?"
Emma shook her head. "We've been trying to get this show off the ground since October. No more delays. I'll perform Ross if I have to."
"No! Emma," Nancy put a hand on her director's shoulder. "You've got too much else to worry about. I'll do Ross, we'll just need an extra hand or two in the booth." She glanced back up at Xander. "Maybe one of the prospectives?"
Xander sighed. "I used to do construction." He raised his hand. "How tough is it to run the board?"
Emma smiled, relief flooding her features. "It's not bad. It's an old board, we can't afford computerized equipment. You're sure you're up to it?"
"We're in town until next week." Xander shrugged. "You said we should stick around to see the show anyway. What do you say, Dawn?"
"Maybe Wood will give me extra credit for this?"
Emma grinned. "It's settled then. Xander, get into the booth. Nancy, let Mike know he's been promoted to ASM. He can show Xander the ropes. Now," Emma turned back to the gathered students by the stage. "Where the hell are our witches?"
"Kayaking." Banquo, an emo-looking kid in Weezer glasses looked up from his script. "With Martin. They said they'd be back in time for rehearsal."
"They'd better be. There's no way we can replace Macbeth himself." Emma gestured for Dawn to take a seat, then strode purposefully up onto the stage. "Warm ups!"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Here," Mike handed Xander a long sheet of paper. "This chart lists what happens for each cue. This letter tells you which preset to use, X or Y, this is the cue number. I'll give you a standby and a go for each cue. On standby, you make sure its set up, and respond 'standing by'. When I say go, you use these knobs," Mike slowly moved the two, black switches in an alternating fashion. "To switch from X to Y, or back. Each column represents a slider." He pointed to the numbers lining the top of the sheet, then to the numbers at the bottom of the 30 some sliders on the X side of the board. "These numbers," he pointed out the hand written 1-10 digits in the first row. "Tell you the level for each slider." A graded scale lined each of the sliders, 1-10. Xander nodded. "Any questions so far?"
"If I can drive a wrecking ball, I can do this." Xander was reassuring himself as much as Mike, who just gave him a look, and nodded.
"All right, we've got our blue stage set up on X already." At Xander's confused look, he elaborated. "That's what we call the lights that are on when the audience enters, before the show. We've got the first cue preset here, on Y. Let's practice." He backed up a step, giving Xander room in front of the board. "Lighting cue 1, stand by?"
Xander looked down at the board. Mike already knew that one was ready. "Um, standing by."
"Go, light cue 1."
Xander moved the knobs. The lights on the stage faded from a cool amber to the sinister reds he'd seen earlier. Mike winced.
"Good. Um, that was good. I'm dumb." Mike moved back over to Xander. He pointed to the X on the sheet, and then to the small downward arrow next to it. "That means that you take X down, without moving Y, to create a black out. Light cue two is bringing Y up. Try it again?"
Xander looked back down at the chart, which was slowly beginning to make sense to him. "Yeah." He reversed the knobs again, then stood back.
"Stand by, light cue 1,"
"Standing by,"
"Go light cue 1, stand by, light cue 2."
Xander brought the X knob down, and put his right hand on the Y knob. His left was already in action, presetting cue 3. "Standing by,"
"Go light cue 2."
Xander brought the Y slider up, and the sinister reds reappeared. He smiled, then looked back down at the board, carefully lining up each slider on the X side of the board. Mike reappeared at his side.
"Hey, you've got it! That's cue three you're on there, and as soon as that cue goes, you set up four on the other side."
"Got it." Xander glanced at the sheet. "How much time do we usually have between cues?"
"Most of the scenes, about five minutes. Sometimes it's a lot longer, Ross and MacDuff have a fifteen minute scene that lasts about a lifetime."
"We order pizza, on that one." Jane smirked from the sound board across the booth, where she was fiddling with a mini-disk player.
"On the other hand, at the end of the scene where MacDuff's wife and kids bite it, there's about 15 seconds for three cues." Mike smiled. "That's the 'crack-head' scene. I'll help you out with that one."
Xander nodded, still staring at the chart. "For some reason I never knew that theater was so . . . ."
"Analog?" Jane offered, as she began plugging some wires into the back of the sound board. "That's just us. Our theater budget sucks."
"Technical." Xander looked over at the enormous patch board between the light and sound areas. "And vaguely fifties phone operator-ish."
"Spaghetti patch." Mike offered. "We get to repatch some of the lights in intermission, but Jane should be able to handle that."
"Oh goody!" Jane muttered.
"I thought you said you were a prospective." Mike glanced over at Xander, from where he stood studying the script. "You act like you've never seen a control booth before."
"I'm not a theater kind of guy." Xander shrugged. "Dawn's looking at the theater, not me."
"Well," Mike turned cheerful, and shut the SM notebook. "Maybe we'll convert you. We could always use more technicians around here."
"Especially when you're doing a cursed show." Xander muttered. Mike shot him another look. "Just promise me I won't die?"
"Nah." Mike punched him in the shoulder, causing Xander to wince. "I don't believe in that junk. It's the witches that does it. People used to be real superstitious about that stuff, one witch in a play was doom and gloom. Three? That had actors running for cover. But ghosts and curses? Lot of bull, if you ask me."
Xander laughed softly. "Mike, you just keep on believing that. I'll be here to rescue you when it bites you in the ass."
Mike smiled. "You do that, man, you do that."
end part two