Tuesday, July 24, 2012
11:01 AM | Posted by
Unknown
Elaine reminded me of a rare moment last night, so I thought I would share it today.
Sometime during the first decade of this century Elaine and I went on a special date. The university was putting on a play about Anne Bolin. The performance was in the round in a small gallery or dance studio above the university auditorium. The acting was great, the costuming well done, and the story was captivating. In the final scene Anne is condemned and lead away to be beheaded.
We were sitting right behind the king and his court. All the room was hushed, and the lights went dim as we all waited for the fall of the ax that would signal the end of her life. From out of the darkness of the room a cannon went off in the distance. I burst out with a screech and yelled, "They shot her!" I was hysterical with laughter at the thought of them taking her head off with a cannon. Everyone in the room was appalled at my behavior at such a solemn moment. Elaine quietly explained that after a beheading they would signal the city of London with the cannon that the person on trial had just died. I honestly thought I was going to hear the thud of the ax on wood, not a cannon blast.
The King and his court wheeled around and glared at me. I think I laughed for the next three months over that unexpected sound. I also couldn't show my face in public for a couple of years.
Sometime during the first decade of this century Elaine and I went on a special date. The university was putting on a play about Anne Bolin. The performance was in the round in a small gallery or dance studio above the university auditorium. The acting was great, the costuming well done, and the story was captivating. In the final scene Anne is condemned and lead away to be beheaded.
We were sitting right behind the king and his court. All the room was hushed, and the lights went dim as we all waited for the fall of the ax that would signal the end of her life. From out of the darkness of the room a cannon went off in the distance. I burst out with a screech and yelled, "They shot her!" I was hysterical with laughter at the thought of them taking her head off with a cannon. Everyone in the room was appalled at my behavior at such a solemn moment. Elaine quietly explained that after a beheading they would signal the city of London with the cannon that the person on trial had just died. I honestly thought I was going to hear the thud of the ax on wood, not a cannon blast.
The King and his court wheeled around and glared at me. I think I laughed for the next three months over that unexpected sound. I also couldn't show my face in public for a couple of years.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment