in the same space-time, finalement

yesterday was surreal. walking into the theatre, about to sit down in the second row, i look over and see some faces that give me that distinct feeling of deja vu. i should have known that you would all be there, all sitting together in one row in the half-dark of an empty theatre... of course that's how we would be reunited. but it took me a while to recognize that it was you, the people who have been living in my head and behind the luminescent font i've been reading on this blog for the past year. you looked different than i'd been picturing you. i know time does that. especially to people your ages, but i didn't expect to be so unsure of the faces to the beings that i felt i knew so deeply.

and you didn't recognize me at first either. we all sort of leaned our heads in and studied each other quietly. molly was the one i recognized first. and then sinead. nathan and kk were more difficult. i felt like i was being played a trick on. like you were all waiting to see if i would recognize that it wasn't really them.

what an experience. what a study on time. and how it changes us. and how our minds fill in all sorts of gaps that don't at all take into account the effect of time on our physical selves.

when i heard you read the play, i knew it was really you. all of you. you might look different but your voices are the same ones i've been hearing in my mind since we started this project. being there in the same space with you as you said those words was incredible. and then hearing the new voices too. the voices you've written and the voices of the people i hadn't met until that first warm-up.

i'm so happy to be here with you working on this play. you are all beautiful burning stars and together your sounds meld into the most powerful of songs.

thank you.