Safety Nagging

Yesterday morning bright and early (9am) we all made our way to the theater and were treated to a firearms safety presentation. Pyro tech Stephanie nagged us about being careful and threatened to fine our asses if she caught us fooling around with weapons. Then Jon Bender and Tom Filkens proceeded to shoot the usual balloons and water jugs to illustrate that blanks are still dangerous. Stephanie scolded us about being careful with torches.

Message: Fire is bad and don’t shoot anyone.

Father Martin does not use firearms. During Big Battle he hovers in his cabin acting very concerned about the whole thing and helps some injured Colonists. Then he cowers and whimpers with Hillary Wright.

The only year I handled guns was in 1999 when I played Captain Dare. I carried a loaded weapon into Yule and used it to dispatch an Indian at the top of the battle. Then I ran off, grabbed another loaded gun and reentered to fire as part of a volley. Then I milled around for a few seconds, then bought it.

Yes, I’m one of the very few Captain Dares that didn’t get it from an arrow at the top of the battle (which is how Ananias gets it this year). What happened was that evil Wanchese picked up a rifle from a downed Colonist and fired it at John Borden (Brandon Smiley). But Captain Dare bravely jumped in front of Borden and took the shot in the gut. This all happened upstage. After getting shot I would stagger all the way down center holding my guts, turn to face Eleanor, scream “NOOOOO!” and dive face first into the sand. Also in that year Eleanor (Ellie Brown) would pull the loaded pistol conveniently stashed in my belt and use it to finish off Wanchese. At the end of the battle John Borden picked me up and carried me, Pieta-like, off the stage.

Anyway, the safety lecture was the extent of my rehearsals yesterday.

Three days ago I broke a tooth. There was no pain, but the filling was loose and I went to a local dentist to have it looked at. He recommended that what was left of the tooth be pulled. (Gruesome details – the filling was at least thirty years old and the tooth under the filling was severely decayed. By the time all that got fixed there wouldn’t have been enough tooth left for a crown. Aren’t you glad you asked?) He gave me a referral for an oral surgeon.          

So I called the surgeon’s office. I assumed I would be given an appointment three weeks from next Tuesday, which is what happens when you call a doctor or dentist back in the area I live. Imagine my surprise when the receptionist said “Sure. You wanna come over right now?”

So I did. The surgeon was Dr. Bald. (Colony connection – he’s the ex-husband of Barbara Leary). Half an hour later I staggered out with a big hole in my teeth which is going to take me a while to get used to. The tooth was one of my back molars so my charming-yet-roguish smile won’t be affected.

Anyway – I was excused from rehearsal last evening (Act I – I am barely in it). I spent my night off dribbling blood-flavored sputum down my front to the accompaniment of pain killers.

Tonight is a full run through.