THE PLAY IS THE THING
Sheila Charles THE PLAY IS THE THING
A friend lent me an autobiography
Which she thought I would enjoy
It was by a famous actor.
I’ve followed him since he was a boy.
It brought back memories of acting
And the fun we had on and off stage.
Every town had a drama group.
Back then, it was all the rage.
The tricks the other actors would play on you
Just to try and make you forget
Your lines. Or they’d try to make you laugh.
Those memories I remember yet!
One stand out memory was
I have to admit, rather weird.
Tom was playing opposite me.
He had rather a stubby beard –
And he turned into an octopus
When no-one else was near.
I never ever encouraged him.
I need to make that quite clear.
His hands were everywhere at once.
Something I came to fear!
Then I came out to New Zealand
And was it my accent or what?
But being a maid, serving coffee,
Was the only part I got!
So I ended up eventually
Joining a concert party lot!
Though that was mainly singing and dancing –
Not really acting at all.
Luckily it was easy to get to
As they met in our church hall.
THEN, I was asked to recite –
Our Albeit and Pam Ayres. Yes.
I really enjoyed doing that –
Almost like acting I have to confess.
Later on I started to write my own poems and the rest, as they say,
Is history. So I am thrilled to bits that I’m still doing that today
It’s the next best thing to actually acting in a play
But if you hear of a part for an old lady in a cardigan, get in touch with me, okay.
illustration by ume-nori
