"That Could Have Been Any One of Us"
Posted by Ashley | | Posted On Saturday, November 6, 2010 at 10:18 PM
I went to Stage Door today: a play put on by the BYU TMA department.
The play was about a group of wanna-be actresses living in an all-girls house during the 1930s. I was really excited to go see it just cause I love the theater so much (aaaaaaaah how much it made me miss the Drama Club at Mead). It was kind of a birthday present to myself. "Happy birthday, self! How did you know that was just what I wanted?!"
The play was actually a lot more emotionally driven than I thought it would be. It takes place during the Depression and they really wanted to show the effects the lack of work had on these women's lives.
One scene in particular really, really struck me.
Kate returns to the house after having been laid off the last job she had just barely managed to find. She has been in a state of desperation since she first entered into the story. She is stumbling around, eyes wide, clutching at the air...trying to find something to hold onto...to balance her. She is wildly unbalanced. She makes her way upstairs as a couple of girls practice singing and playing the piano in the living room. She disappears up the stairs. Just barely above the piano a gun shot is heard. A girl comes running down the stairs in tears. She can't even say what she just witnessed. After a moment of mass confusion and running around, Kate's body is discovered and the entire house is thrown into hysterics.
As the crying continues, the land-lady (between sobs) yells, "I knew I shouldn't have let her stay here! I always knew there was something wrong with her...she was different...not like the rest of your girls..." Terry (the main character) lifts her head quickly off the shoulder she has been sobbing into and shouts, "Don't you dare say that! That could have been any one of us."
That line made me pause. That could have been any one of us.
How true that is.
How often do we judge others? How often do we think that they are just being stupid or selfish or prideful? How often?!
We have to learn...
The person who committed suicide...that could have been us.
The person who went into a state of depression...that could have been us.
The person who lost everything...that could have been us.
And someday it might be us.
That could have been any one of us.
The sooner we learn that we are just as susceptible to pain, loneliness and desperation as the next person, the sooner we will learn to avoid the hasty judgement.
The play was about a group of wanna-be actresses living in an all-girls house during the 1930s. I was really excited to go see it just cause I love the theater so much (aaaaaaaah how much it made me miss the Drama Club at Mead). It was kind of a birthday present to myself. "Happy birthday, self! How did you know that was just what I wanted?!"
The play was actually a lot more emotionally driven than I thought it would be. It takes place during the Depression and they really wanted to show the effects the lack of work had on these women's lives.
One scene in particular really, really struck me.
Kate returns to the house after having been laid off the last job she had just barely managed to find. She has been in a state of desperation since she first entered into the story. She is stumbling around, eyes wide, clutching at the air...trying to find something to hold onto...to balance her. She is wildly unbalanced. She makes her way upstairs as a couple of girls practice singing and playing the piano in the living room. She disappears up the stairs. Just barely above the piano a gun shot is heard. A girl comes running down the stairs in tears. She can't even say what she just witnessed. After a moment of mass confusion and running around, Kate's body is discovered and the entire house is thrown into hysterics.
As the crying continues, the land-lady (between sobs) yells, "I knew I shouldn't have let her stay here! I always knew there was something wrong with her...she was different...not like the rest of your girls..." Terry (the main character) lifts her head quickly off the shoulder she has been sobbing into and shouts, "Don't you dare say that! That could have been any one of us."
That line made me pause. That could have been any one of us.
How true that is.
How often do we judge others? How often do we think that they are just being stupid or selfish or prideful? How often?!
We have to learn...
The person who committed suicide...that could have been us.
The person who went into a state of depression...that could have been us.
The person who lost everything...that could have been us.
And someday it might be us.
That could have been any one of us.
The sooner we learn that we are just as susceptible to pain, loneliness and desperation as the next person, the sooner we will learn to avoid the hasty judgement.
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This is exactly what needed to hear today. Thanks deary. You're amazing.
I am glad it helped :)
That part got my heart too! Whew! Thanks again for inviting me to come. It was such a great play and got me thinking. And a good push to look around me and have some more charity and love in my heart : ) You are the best and so amazing!