Last night, there was no rehearsal.
There was, however a reading. As I may have mentioned a couple of times, Out of Character is the second play in a series that started with the play Shadow Court. Last night, we presented a reading of that play. I read the role of Randy, a character that also appears in the new play. Since I’m playing Randy in this most recent play, this was a great experience. Seeing what Randy was like in the 5 years before this play, and under some trying circumstances. I think I learned a lot about who Randy was at that time.
In Shadow Court, the characters (a tight-knit group of Live Action Roleplayers) are trying to come to terms with the murder of a friend. The fallout from this terrible event is that the group is fracturing, drifting apart. Spurred by his girlfriend, Randy brings the group together once more, determined to find a way to make every finally deal with the death of Gwynn. Although he is successful, and issues are dealt with, it certainly doesn’t happen in the way he thought it would.
As Out of Character opens, five years have passed since Shadow Court. Randy is now married to Heather, who was his girlfriend in the first play. He had a brief period away from Live Action Roleplaying, and though he returned to it, Heather never did. This, combined with lessons learned from the events of five years ago have changed a few things. Randy has gained a bit of perspective on gaming; he doesn’t spend as much time gaming as he used to.  As well, he’s worked harder to keep in touch with his friends. In Shadow Court, many of those in the group haven’t seen or spoken to each other in almost a year. It seems to me that Randy since the events of that night, he has worked harder to prevent that from happening.
I like Randy.
Here’s a shot of the script from somewhere near the beginning of the reading last night.
