ON THE STAGE

I take the stage and hope for the best.   The wooden floor is worn out from over a decade worth of shows. The lights shine bright from a catwalk above.   Performers stomp around and direct members of the audience who are invited on stage.   The actors fill the room with their mock enthusiasm and false urgency.   It is all for the sake of entertainment.  I am there doing my part.           I am not an entertainer, yet I can inspire laughter and applause all the same.      I am the guy behind the camera.

Among the others on stage, I move and frame the action with a steady hand.   Timing is everything, the sights and sounds of the show follow the rhythm of my movements.   Every show is the same, yet they are all different.   The actors and camera operators find ways to make the show their own, you have to, it makes your shows mean something, to you if not anyone else.   This is a dance, a test of reflexes and instincts.

I quickly learned the style and flow of each actor and react to capture the moment in the best possible way.   At least that is the hope each time out.   There is no time to second guess yourself and as soon as you reset the stage after one show, a new one begins.   It is cycle, like each passing night that brings a new dawn.   Above the stage is a large screen that lets the crowd see everything that passes through my lends.   Maybe they're watching or maybe they're not, but the dance continues and the show must go on. 

 

 

 

Curt Wiser is the writer-director of the thriller Cam-Girl (aka Web-Cam).  His writing has been published in Indie Slate Magazine and he is an author of suspense novels.