Drama Queen

Every little town in the U.K. has an amateur dramatics group. Kind of like the community theater groups in the U.S. but they tend to be much more involved. Every Christmas they organize the pantomime, an elaborate, stylized comic play with drag, over-the-top characters, and audience participation that is a long-standing tradition for Brits. And they host plays, monologues, fundraisers and other events throughout the year. Some of the fundraising events resemble live game shows like Who's Line is it Anyway, Twenty Questions, and Call My Bluff. 

Enough British ex-pats reside here in Sitges for us to have our own theater group. It's appropriately titled the Sitges English Theatre Company. There are a few Americans involved as well as Catalans, French, and Dutch, so maybe the English part refers to language more than country of origin. I've been meaning to join the group for a while. 

In high school I was involved in drama, both in school and with community theater. Yes, I was a drama fag. I loved it. Even though I had been in band, scouting, church, and other group activities all my life, drama was the first time I felt any sense of belonging. There was a certain camaraderie involved in drama. A sense of community, familiarity. Here was a group of people who accepted me without judgement, who engaged with me intellectually and artistically. 

I wasn't much of an actor at the beginning, but I was one of the youngest in the group. I did get better parts over the next couple of years. But the number of lines I had was never very important. What I loved was that group dynamic. The team-building and trust activities. The work days building sets and learning technical aspects of theater. The quiet conversations in the green room waiting for the next big scene. 

So maybe I could find some of that again with Sitges ETC. I've seen a few productions, but last night was the first time I participated in something. Last night we played Twenty Questions in front of a live audience at the Hotel Liberty. You know, the game where you have to guess something. You're told if it's an animal, vegetable, mineral, or abstract and you ask 20 yes or no questions to try to guess what it is. Is it larger than a bread box? Is it human? Is it manufactured? I was the youngest person on the panel and the only American. 

I had a great time. I was admittedly quite nervous at first. I haven't been on a stage in years, and I'm fairly shy by nature. But it was a small, comfy audience, quite friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Here in Sitges, there often aren't many things to do for an English speaker that don't involve the beach or the bars. It was a refreshing change of pace. I just hope they enjoyed my involvement as much as I enjoyed being involved. I did exchange contact information with several people concerning upcoming events. We'll see.