I’m
not exaggerating, when I say it was the worst play ever. When I was in fifth
grade, our school decided to put on its first theater production, an adaption
of Peter Pan. All the parents were in complete pandemonium, scrambling
to help Mrs. Hale, our show director, and attempt to bribe their children into
the main roles. We had never put on a play before, and were very clueless, and
so was Mrs. Hale. To be honest, we
weren’t very excited. All of us kids knew, how high expectations were, and we
would have much rather been playing basketball. Parents threw money left and
right onto the fanciest costumes and tech equipment. They thought if we had the
best of the best materials, then we would be the best of the best.
After months of stumbling through
rehearsals, the dreaded moment came. You might be thinking, it couldn’t have
been that bad. Well, just you wait. Mrs. Hale attempted a pep talk. “Children,
just do the best you can do. Remember, no matter what, the show must go on
You’re already stars!” You’d think for an English teacher, she’d have a better
speech prepared. The curtains rose,
the music began, and disaster ensued. The choir started on the wrong key, Peter
Pan’s wires got twisted; and he was stuck in midair. Remember, “The show must
go on.” Wendy’s mic wouldn’t work, and
Tinkerbell fell of the stage. This all happed during Act 1. During intermission, parents frantically
scolded Mrs. Hale, because apparently, it was her fault?
The
tech team hurried to attempt to solve all microphone issues, while the cast sat
backstage playing cards. You would think for such fancy equipment, it would
have worked better.
Act two began, and for a moment, it
seemed as though maybe this play is not so bad after all. Curtains rose, and Wendy sang. Truthfully,
she did sound beautiful. It almost seemed as if everything that went wrong was
behind us, and maybe this play would end on a high note. The pirates marched onto
the stage, sang, danced, and stayed on beat., As I marched on stage, I looked
to my right, into the wings, and Mrs. Hale, with tears in her eyes, looked so
proud she could burst. In that moment, I wished this play would not succumb to
disaster. After dealing with commands and complaints with parents, she did
deserve a better outcome than she received. It was a beautiful moment, to see
her look as proud as she did. That single moment is one I could never forget.
All the previous chaos seemed to disappear, and it seemed as if Mrs. Hale had
achieved the impossible. I turned my
head towards the audience, and with thirty seconds left in our musical number,
I felt confident that this play would not be so terrible after all. Because
crazier things have indeed happened.
I wish I could end the story right
there. Put a pretty bow on the scene and say the end. However, more chaos
ensued than one could imagine. Suddenly,
microphone issues became worse than before with high pitched screeches.
Shuffling through the choreography, one boy in the ensemble stepped the wrong
way and like a row of dominoes a whole line of us children fell over. The final
fight between Captain Hook and Peter Pan by far created the worst outcome.
Remember, Peter is still in the
midair for the entire show. Mrs. Hale thought using a ladder would help, which
only added fuel to the already ensuing fire. Captain Hook plunged forward with
his sword, and just whacked Peter in the nose. Blood gushing down his face, he
attempted his hardest at getting through the entirety of his dialogue. Yet, Peter
Pan’s twisted wires finally became undone, and this poor boy, fell face forward
and fell headfirst on top of Captain Hook. Audience members swear they could hear
a bone cracking. A spine chilling scream ensued, and that was the final straw.
The curtains closed and so did any
thoughts of a theater program. Poor Mrs. Hale tried her best to console parents
and called emergency services. So, yes, our fifth-grade production of Peter Pan
was the worst play ever. I guess adults are right when they say, “Money
really can’t buy everything.”
