Three Nights in Wonderland

Adrenaline bubbles through me. My limbs feel hollow and my knees are shaking. I can feel my heart beating against my chest. The lights dim. The crowd cheers. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum walk on stage. The only thing separating me from an audience of hundreds of people is a single red, velvet curtain.
2 minutes.
1 minute.
Get into your places.

The crowd applauds and the curtains are pulled apart. I don't see the people, though; the 400 pairs of eyes, because I am a gardener in Wonderland. I knew it's cliche, but it's true. As soon as the curtains were opened, the adrenaline just stopped. I wasn't nervous. I wasn't Eve, standing on the stage wearing tights and basically stumbling under the weight of my thick, penciled-on eyebrows- I was Two, and I was painting the roses red.

My accent, a weird combination of Irish and cockney English, comes out loud and clear. I don't forget or stumble over my seven lines. I'm just having a gossip with my pals Five and Seven.

'Look out now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me like that.'
'If he's smart, he'll keep out of sight.'
'What for?'
'The fact is, miss, this 'ere ought to have been a red rose tree, but we planted a white one by mistake.'
'No miss, they're too young yet.'
'Please be careful, miss.'
'May it please your majesty, we were just trying-'

I had such a blast being involved with the school production, Alice in Wonderland.
Yes, I had to put a lot of time in. Full-day Sunday rehearsals. After school until half five.
Literally over 30 hours of listening to the same lines and going through the same scenes. Hours of waiting around- 3 hours, in fact, on the show night, for around three minutes of stage time.
It sounds bad, it barely looks worth it through my own eyes- but, in truth, it so was.
It was so much fun. Performing gives me such a rush. And those hours of waiting were spent laughing with the other cast members, and having a good time. And seeing my name in print on the programme did give me a little buzz.
I am glad that I didn't get a main part, though, there's a large amount of pressure involved. I don't know how Alice did it; she was on for the entire show, practically.
I am definitely going to try and be part of all the other school productions in future. Doing the walk down at the end of the show and hearing your friends and family cheering- it's a simply fantastic feeling.

One thing I found quite surprising was how tired I was. The play involve hardly any physical effort, but when I got home I was well and truly exhausted. The morning after the first show I had trouble opening my eyes. The following two mornings weren't any better. I suppose I was out from 5-9 each nigh,t and on the last night, Thursday, there was an after party until ten.
I must say, tripping around my room Friday morning and not truly waking up until about lunch time- it was a price I was happy to pay for the fun I had dancing and acting like an idiot during the after party.

The first night was exhilarating.
The next night, the show was a million times better- but not as exciting.
On the last night, everyone was comfortable in their character's skin.Us gardeners were lounging on the King and Queen's thrones behind the curtain.

All in all, it was, pun intended, just wonderful.