Illumination

 

 At the stage performance, an actor switches on a light, and then the stage becomes bright. Generally, at these scenes, the actors don’t turn the lights on. A lighting crew member does the job. Of course, we can make real switches on the stage with cords. But it complicates the scene changes. Stages are high traffic areas. We have to worry about cable disconnection and so on.

 This is common sense to theater people. Having a good combination of lighting and sound skills is necessary among stage actors.

 It is so. It is natural. But I was also tricked by that. If I had thought about that, I could practically find that out by myself.

 Decorative illuminations are very popular among Japanese local governments. At a lighting ceremony, mayors or celebrities turn on a huge switch for the illuminations on stage. But in most of the cases, they don’t actually turn on the real switch. A lighting crew turns on the real switch. The switch on stage is just a dummy.

My wife works as a lighting crew for stages. A few days ago, she turned on the real switch for an illumination ceremony. She was very nervous because if she made a mistake, it would embarrass the VIP. The VIP should believe they had the real switch.

 She told that secret to me. Until I heard it, I had also believed that the VIP turns on the real switch. But I still believe that in some lighting ceremonies, the crew members really connect the huge switch on stage, and the VIPs turn on the real switch. I believe there is Santa Claus.

 There are some information we should not know.

Picture by makaron*

Encounter

 

 At a farewell party of a performance, a person whom I was very interested in was near my seat. The person was so interesting because I couldn’t tell the person’s gender. The person was skinny. The person had short hair and looked like a boy. The person was a crew member of the performance. Most of the crew members wore unisex clothes, so I couldn’t identify the person’s gender from the clothes.

 Once someone said to me, “In those cases, you should watch the person’s hands and neck.” I watched the person’s hands and neck. The person’s hands were bony. I could see the person’s Adam’s apple. But it was possible that it appeared because the person was too skinny. I couldn’t find the conclusive factor.

 I guessed the person might be male. But I wanted to hear the person’s voice first before I make a conclusion.

 The person was not the talkative type. The party was fun, but the person didn’t say a single word. I waited for a long time.

 Finally, the person uttered some words, but the person’s voice was very low. I made a conclusion and said to the person, “I assume you are a girl.”

The other crew members who knew the answer laughed.

 Actually, the person was a lady.

 Now the lady is my beloved wife.

Picture by sanno