Jack-of-all-trades

I have said many times before that I wanted to be jack-of-all-trades if only because I did not want to take the time to master any particular trade to the exclusion of all others. However, of late I have actually earned that desired title to a certain extent, at least as regards the theatre business.

For I have been playwright, director, actor, costumer, set and lighting designer, producer, publicist, stage manager and whatever else it takes to produce a play. It has been an interesting task indeed trying to play all of the various parts, sometimes at the same time, and I have learned a great deal in the process, both about what I can and can't do.

I can for instance write a play that pleases, a fact to which the rehearsals and particularly the dress rehearsal performance attest.

I can't, however, get into the character of the villain and act as director at one and the same time.

Nor can I do everything to the perfect standard I would set myself.

Yet I can work words and lighting and costumes and a castle backdrop into a tale of loyalty that bears sharing, bringing my own small contribution to art and culture. Where that contribution shall lead has yet to be seen, but of that I need not be concerned. For it is not in my hands. I can but do my part—or parts.