A Musical Show

(This dream was recorded on 12 May 2005)

A friend of mine runs a musical show. She is forty something and is perhaps single.

The show is like the traditional style of circuit – it’s mobile but very organised and efficient. My friend owns the show and the players in the show are like a big gypsy family.

There have been over 40 shows locally. It’s been the same show but can be slightly different every time. I always hang around with them (not sure why). Occasionally there will be an audition to recruit an extra ‘staff’ as the story changes or to find a replacement if an existing cast leaves the show to pursue something else in life. In one of the auditions there is a teenage boy who instantly merges himself into the shown effortless. When the next show starts and the velvet is opened, the first scene is this boy singing with his guitar. I am amazed that the boy just fits in so naturally. He is an amateur in the show business but he is such a good performer.

While the show is still on, I walk into my friend’s studio (which is also her habitat). It is relatively a small room and things are all over the place and on the floor. At the corner of the room there is an open rack where all her clothes are hung. I notice that her clothes are all very colourful. One of the clothes jammed in the middle still has its price tag on it. Out of curiosity I pull the clothes apart to reach the price tag. It says $743. I am surprised because that article of clothes doesn’t look like an expensive one nor does it look like a designer piece.

When my friend is back from the stage, I ask her how long she is going to run this show for. I am a little concerned that the show has been running for some 40 times in the local area and she might eventually run out of audience. She says to me that frankly she doesn’t know how long she will be running this show for. At the moment she just knows that she can’t stop as the show is her life and soul. If one day it has run its course, she’ll know and something else will come up.

In the meanwhile, my husband and I come to watch this show every time. (Maybe it’s because we like the show very much? Or maybe it’s because the owner of the show is our friend? ) As usual, we are about to take the ferry to the other side of town to get to the place to see the show. The river is long and narrow and the other side of the bank is perhaps just less than half a mile’s distance. Before we embark on the ferry, my husband asks me the same question I asked my friend before. He says: “Honey, we’ve been to this show many times. How long do you think we want to watch this show for?”