the writing on the wall

The area beneath the stage of the Elyria High School auditorium not only includes dressing rooms, pieces of sets, props and costume closets, but also serves as a green room, where many students from years past have adorned the walls with their names. Often this takes place on a whim at the end of a busy day building and painting the set for a show, and when I was helping with Fiddler on the Roof my sophomore year, I was no exception. I painted "Bryan Bird '98" in small letters above the paper towel dispenser.

But no less than an hour later, I was informed by a senior that the "rule" was that only inducted Thespians were to leave their mark, and that while she personally didn't really care, others would. The two freshmen who also painted their names just sort of shrugged, but in my typical non-confrontational method, I rolled a layer of white paint over my name just to be safe.

At the end of my senior year, it turned out I had just enough points to become a Thespian, so I joined. But the school year was over, so I never had another show to work on and thus never painted my name on the wall. In addition, by this point all the "unwritten rule enforcers" were long gone, and pretty much anyone who felt like it was dressing up the green room with their John Hancock.

Since graduating, I have been in the green room many times while working with Elyria Summer Theatre, and often thought about finally posting my name, but I never had any paint handy and didn't think it was a big deal. But this being the 10th anniversary of my graduation, and with the auditorium being torn down soon for the new high school, on the closing day of Little Shop of Horrors I decided it was time. There's a semi-permanent monument stationed above the paper towel dispenser now, so I couldn't sign my name in the same place, and I used a silver paint pen rather than a brush, but it's close enough.

And thanks to the magic of camera phones, I can now share with you all:





Justice has been served. Take that, Class of '96 Thespians!