Promise!

We read our dialogs. We rehearsed and practiced. We had fun. At day-end, we promised each other that we will carry out a complete dress rehearsal with perfect dialog delivery, emotions, gestures, etc.

Days passed by. We practiced a bit, sometimes without a key performer, sometimes by reading out our dialogs. But we renewed our promise that when everything is in place, we will carry out a final dress rehearsal. After all, we had to perform our play before a live audience of around 200.

On the day before the play we travelled to the location where we would perform. We reached there by evening. We are still not sure of our costumes. We are yet to practice on the stage. A hand microphone was given to us for practice. All of us did the “Hello, mike check” routine. We asked for collar mikes so that our hands remain free for gestures. We were told that the collar mikes would arrive soon. Individually, we read our dialogs and practiced. By now, we are confident that the dialogs are there in our heads, ready to be delivered through the collar mikes.

And yes, we all looked forward to fulfil our promise – a dress rehearsal when everything is in place. The clock read 11:30 PM. Everything’s still not in place. One actor needed a turban. Some other costumes had to be altered. We had to gather and set up more props. And yes, we had to fulfil our promise. We started with the turban and fashioned one out of a Rebok cap, two colourful Bandhini cloth, needle-thread and many safety pins. And when we were done with the sewing and stitching, we realized that the Reebok logo was showing through. Since Reebok does not make turbans (yet), we had to redo the turban. The clock was ticking and we were tired. We decided to pack up.

Someone reminded us of our promise. We huddled together and re-worked our promise: Tomorrow, we will get up early and do a complete dress rehearsal on stage. We slept peacefully. After all, we have a promise to fulfil.

The next day dawned. We hurried through our routines and went about altering our costumes and gathering the last few props. And soon our group was told to assemble backstage within 30 minutes. Ours would be the first performance of the day. WHAT? What about our promise? Wait, we have promised a complete dress rehearsal when everything’s in place. How can YOU not allow us to fulfil our promise?

We quickly re-grouped and re-worked our promise. Our new promise: Next time, we will complete a dress rehearsal a week before go-live. We will be ready on time. We will...We will...Promise! God Promise! God, for today, please be with us and see us through the next 30-minutes.

He heard and helped us. Because, He knows that we have made a promise.