Jonathan Granger had a reputation for always being perfectly groomed and put together, but with a wife, four children under the age of four, and a very lively dog to take care of, not to mention an aging uncle, and all the responsibilities that went with directing the Rep, he had let his usual fastidious grooming go a little. That is to say, he'd let his hair get long and curly, was sporting more beard than he had in years, and was often found in jeans and t-shirts, rather than designer suits and ties.
It had been almost a year since Jon had played Lear on the Shanachie stage, trading acting for directing for a while. He still wasn't sure whether that trade was going to be temporary or permanent, but for now, he was enjoying the change. He'd missed acting at first, but with the growing number of responsibilities at home, he had to admit he wasn't missing the sometimes grueling schedule that acting entailed. Sure, he still had to attend rehearsals, and he made sure he was there for each and every performance, but he didn't have to worry about the mental and sometimes physical challenges of acting anymore.
Men At Arms, though, had proven to be his biggest directing challenge yet, and though he knew his actors were nothing if not consummate professionals, he was aware of some problems between them. For one thing, he and Mataya had purposely cast Annabeth as Marcus' love interest, rather than Kruger's, for fear there might be some tension between the former couple. It was also common knowledge that Marcus was engaged to Kiri, but so far, Jon had been unable to detect any jealousy.
Ah, sometimes the backstage drama was almost as interesting as what was going on in front of the curtain. If anyone was proof of that, it was Jonathan Granger, but few besides Mataya remembered those early troubled days of his at the Shanachie anymore.
Jon hadn't quite sorted out whether the play was supposed to be a drama or a comedy. He'd done his homework and read the book in preparation for the play, but he still wasn't too sure. It seemed more like a satire to him. Still, it touched on some themes that were relevant to Rhy'Din, the main one being that of racial diversity.
The art department had amazed them all with their tricks, turning human or mostly human actors into dwarves and trolls and werewolves. Jon was proud of the fact that the Shanachie's cast was almost as diverse as the population, and though they were all humanoid, there were a few of mixed or unknown bloodlines. Mataya prided herself on being an equal-opportunity employer, for lack of a better phrase, but they still needed to employ some art tricks and even a little magic at times to get the audience to suspend disbelief for a little while.
Still, it was certainly a challenge, and a challenge Jon was thoroughly enjoying. It didn't hurt that he was making some friends, too. All-in-all, Jon was enjoying his stint at directing the Rep, with each new play offering its own challenges and rewards. When the curtain went down and the audience moved to its feet each night to applaud, he knew some of that applause was for those who weren't taking a bow on stage, and he never failed to remind the crew of that. A successful play depended not only on its actors, but on every single person who did their part to make that play a success each and every night.
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