Shakespeare once said “All the worlds a stage and the men and women merely players”. And right now I wish I wasn’t one of those players. It was twenty minutes till the lights went on and I was on stage. I slipped the soft blue fabric over my head and my friend, Tali, zipped me up. As I tied the white apron around my waist I looked at Tali’s costume. She was playing The White Rabbit. The soft, white fabric that covered her from head to toe made her look like she was wearing a hairy footed pajama. She complained as I tugged on her bunny ears and straightened her vest that carried her pocket watch. We gave each other a hug and I could smell the white foundation that was put on her face. We walked out of the costume room to join the other members of the cast.

When we walked in I could hear my friend Ben running his lines under his breath as he pulled at his costume and paced back and forth to the great annoyance of everyone else. He had nothing to worry about. He had already been leads in the previous plays we had been in together. Robin Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and countless others. He kept pacing his red cape fluttering behind him and clutching his scepter. I steered away from him not wanting him to stress me out. I had enough of that already.

I made my way over to where some of the girls were sitting. As I walked over I saw the rest of the cast. Some of them were doing fixing each others hair, or straightening their hats or jewlry . I saw Josh the light and sound boy doing the final checks with the director. I glanced to my right and saw Liliah and Lauren doing finishing touches on makeup. My hand went to my face as I noticed, in my nervousness, I had forgotten to put any on. I only had my base makeup, I rushed over to Gillian and the girls, dodging people and tripping over my own feet.

When I got there Gillian pointed out my mistake and took out her kit. Her and Tali fixed my hair and applied my makeup. I could feel the nervousness seeping through from my brain to my stomach. Then the butterflies came. I was so nervous I was thinking of all the horrible things that could happen. I could completely forget my lines and stand there like an idiot. I could trip over my feet and land face first on stage. I could say the wrong line. I could faint. All these thoughts ran through my head while beads of nervous sweat formed on my back.

Finally Tali and Gillian were done and they gave me a mirror to inspect their work. I was thinking so much of what could go wrong I didn’t even notice what they were doing. I looked into the Hello Kitty mirror and saw my reflection. In the dim light I could make out I had light blue eyeshadow and red lips. I was happy they kept it simple. My eyelashes looked thicker and they lined my eyes with a light brown.

There were ten minutes left of almost nausea. The butterflies in my stomach seemed as though their diet consisted of 5-hour energy and pixie sticks. I heard Brianna calling me over. I turned to see what she wanted. I saw she had Adam in a corner and was trying to “tease” his hair. I gave a sigh and made my way over. As I walked through the cast I could smell the sweat coming off their bodies and the hairspray was making me feel light headed. I got to Bri and Adam just in time to see Adam give in to Bri’s hair idea.

Bri handed me a comb and took off his hat. She told me to tease his hair while she sprayed the hairspray. He shrugged his shoulders and I went to work. His hair was smooth and didn’t want to be teased. So Bri coated his head in the sticky stuff while I brushed his hair in the opposite direction. Josh called “FIVE MINUTES” just as we finished. Josh went out to open the door to let the crowd in. We had sold out. I heard the people talking as they took their seats. GreetingsA whole audience full of people staring at me while I recited lines I know I knew.

The audience was full and the lights when off. That was my que. I gave one last look back to my friends giving me thumbs up, smiles and some even gave quick hugs. I straightened my apron and gave my glasses to the director. I stepped on stage and the lights went up flooding my face with a yellow light. Suddenly the butterflies weren't there any more. It was just me and the stage. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth. “What a curious place. I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen?” I went through the stage directions in my head. Walk over to mushroom. Look at the audience. “I know it sounds odd, but I just fell down a rabbit hole.” Then after that it all felt natural.

Tali hopped on stage as a bunney and we exchanged dialogue. We walked off stage and the lights went black. I heard the applause as we walked off stage. It felt amazing.

Shakespeare once said “All the worlds a stage and the men and women merely players.” Despite all my nervousness I went on and gave it my all. And yes Shakespeare, I’m proud to say I’m a player.