Actors are a strange bunch...

At one point in Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are dead, the Player King states, "we're actors. We're the opposite of people."

As I work to get off book, I am amuzed at how this fits.

Who but an actor would look forward to going home to sing lyrics of a man tormented by the lust he feels for his adopted daughter? Who but an actor would look forward to practicing ripping off his shirt and scourgin himself while singing these lyrics? Who would then look forawrd to using his kitchen scissor (the ones he uses to cut open his milk bags) to trim the extra length of his practice whip, so that it hit his back just right?

Moreover, who but another actor would comment to this first actor, "I'm so jealous! I wanted to flaggilate!"

Judge Turpin's song, Johanna, is a rich and deep song. For all the whipping and lust, there's a tremendous depth, conflict, and journey. Turpin doesn't actually have a lot of time on stage, but his presence is ever felt; this song is one of the reasons. It's what I like to term a "juicy" song. It's a song that can very easily suffer of, as Michael terms it, moustache twirling, but the genious of the song is that all of the signposts are there in the music to keep you away from that urge, if you pay attention to them.

I continue to be thankful and excited to have the chance to look for these signs. I've already found a few of them in the past couple days of practice at home. I look forward to finding more in the upcoming weeks, and to bringing an audience along with me on this dark, but satisfying journey.