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Community Performance Inc.

August 26, 2008

It was an ordinary evening of rehearsal last night. Ordinary for the past week in Colquitt, I guess, with Fay coming back, leaving, coming back again. Every once in a while, the sound of driving rain or crack of thunder would cause our heads to raise up and look at the theater roof, making sure it was still there, I guess. Then about 8:45 or so, as we were coming up on the last of our table work scenes. Various cast members started receiving text messages. The Tornado watch we'd been under all day has now become a warning. So, we decide to move to a better location in the building. Truth told, Cotton Hall is the safest building in Miller COunty, so it's a far better situation than I was in last year during the tornadoes, when I was alone in our little yellow prefab house with no closets or central rooms. And this time, I've got a fireman with us at rehearsal. He's also an actor, who plays the part of the father of a young girl who has secretly eloped. We all move to a place we call "the tunnel", and pass out flashlights, just in case. We read through the scene, making script changes to fit the words more easily into the mouths of the actors. We also talk over characterizations and motivations, you know, the usual table work we do with any script. We look at each other for reassurance when a heavy gust of wind hits the building, or the thunder moves louder and closer. We finish up with the scene, and a few people go home, but Richard and I stay to talk with Debbie, the music director, about solidifying the music in the show, which has not been done yet. We get to looking at the second song, The fireman's walkie talkie goes off about a few seconds before the tornado siren starts blaring, followed by a voice on the loudspeaker: "Seek shelter immediately. Do not delay." OK, this is interesting.

And my main concerns at this point are two. One, is that Jason (our set designer) had walked home. Is he still walking in this mess or did he make it home? And home is where? You guess it, the little yellow prefab home. My other concern is that it's 9:00 now and I'm really hungry. We move from the tunnel to under the stage. A safer place yet. And, not to waste the time while we're there together, and with flashlights in hand, we continue to work with Debbie over lyric changes for the music. After all, we have a music rehearsal Friday, and we need to know what that music is before we start. I also couldn't help myself from writing down the one-liners and thoughts people were expressing out loud. I think it might make a funny scene or song in an upcoming show. Debbie's more concerned about having a spider crawl on her under the stage than she is about the constant blare of the siren. The walkie talkies charted out the course of the approaching storm. "Coming up Grady Cobb road, copy"

We all look at each other. Grady Cobb Road is familiar to this cast because we did a play four years ago called "Nuthin But a Will", which centered around the huge tornadoes that hit all over the area. Grady Cobb Road was one of the places in the story. Then the walkie talkie speaks again. "On its way to Enterprise" . Another shared look. "Three notch" Creeeeeepyyyy. It was like reliving the play, the places were so familiar, and so often the places the tornadoes decide to go. And all the places that were in "nuthin but a will."

"Reaching Colquitt in 15 minutes." "Irrigation at Enterprise pulled up. Will you check? Copy" So there goes part of somebody's farm. The walkie talkie quiets down. Debbie, Richard, and I go back to the lyrics, about a dozen people are under with us. Jason, meanwhile, freaked out slightly when he heard the siren. Richard told him to find the same room I did last year, and use a mattress if he needed to, to cover up. Jason heard the siren at the same time the TV screen went red and said "If you are in a car or mobile home, get out of the car, leave your mobile home, find a ditch and cover your head". Which is kind of funny and sad at the same time. I mean, if you were driving down the road, how could you see this message? Besides that, all the ditches around here are absolutely flooded. You'd need a snorkel to dive in a ditch for cover. Not to mention having a stick, to keep the aliigators away who have a larger stomping ground with all of this water. School was closed today because the school buses couldn't reach the flooded out streets to pick up kids.

About 9:15 or so, we get a call that the Phillips' are on their way to cotton hall, and so was Robin and her family. We called the Phillip's back and asked if they could stop and get Jason on the way if they were coming. Robin lives in a double wide, and it's much safer in Cotton hall. The Phillips' place is out in tornado central, so Cotton Hall was also a safer bet. We call Jason to let him know they'll pull to the curb and beep and to be ready. The warning kept extending. 9:30, to 10:00, 10:30 to 11:00. Jason is safe with us now, but I'm really hungry. Tarah found some mini-muffins that someone brought in that day, so we ate mini muffins under the stage, I watched out for Spiders for Debbie, we finished up music, then sat talking, listening to the disembodied voice on the walkie talkie continue to chart out the different sightings. "How do you see a tornado in the dark?"

It's turning into a bit of a party. For a while there, we were about five seconds away from singing Cumbaya, but we hear the voice telling us the storm is leaving Colquitt, heading for Early County. Richard was ready to leave,tired and bored and hungry. I was all of those, but I was also a bit nervous. I've been through tornadoes and hurricanes before, so I know what can happen. He's not been through them, and he said he was one of those lucky people who didn't worry about it because he wasn't scared of what he didn't know. I was far too cranky with him when he wanted to leave, and out loud (I cringe now, and I apologized in front of everyone seconds after it left my mouth), but I said "I don't want to leave here where its safe and have something happen just because you're bored". It was a jerky thing for me to say. Most of the time, I crack jokes when I'm nervous. I didn't this time, I was just nervous and hungry and mean and spoke without thinking and i felt terrible and right after the last syllable left my mouth, I realized what I'd just said, in front of people, and turned to them and Richard and just apologized. I was mortified with myself. It was really a jerky thing to do. I still feel bad. I grabbed my keys and drive the three of us home. The others stayed in Cotton Hall. They said they'd call if they heard anythign else over the scanner. And, the siren had stopped blaring. And the weather did sound like it was moving off. We came back home, I cooked us all some quick pasta and a salad. Interesting night. Woke up today, and yup, tornado watch until 7:00 tonight. I Don't know how this will bode for rehearsal attendance. But I'll be there. And I'm bringing along some pretzels in my bag, just in case. It's better to be nervous on a full stomach.

   

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