Speechless
.

My dearest son left me speechless today. The drama club needed someone to play a bit part in the Fall Play, which is a comedy. It's only a handful of lines, so L decided he would give it a try.

Today, the director had the actors run through the play to work on blocking. L entered on cue and delivered his first line. I heard a few laughs. By his sixth line, "So am I." The room was filled with laughter. Even the director was laughing.

Not because my son was goofing off or making a fool of himself. He was genuinely funny. He delivered his lines with perfect timing, tone, and gesture. He was not L playing the role of Donny. He *was* Donny, friend of Brian; and the history of friendship between "Donny" and "Brian" was apparant on stage. Even though L and the other actor had only interacted once before.

After practice, the director asked L what other plays he'd been in. L responded, "None... Unless you count when I announced 'act 2' in the third grade Christmas play."

The director told him that he was naturally funny, and really talented. At the time, I was speechless. The director had a gleam in her eye that I haven't seen since I left Visual & Performing Arts High. When a good teacher finds a student with a knack for the subject being taught, and realizes they might play a small part in cultivating that knack; the gleam appears.

On the way home, I advised him to not let her pidgeonhole him into comedy. When he takes drama classes with her next semester, he should try out a variety of genres.
I've watched how the drama teacher/director interacts with her students, and I don't believe she will try to keep L in a comedy box. I think she'll encourage him to try out as many genres as she can!