Writing for Fun
September 2015
The Final Curtain Call - Sue Barker
The theatre lights were on and Louisa was backstage applying her make-up and getting dressed, she was as prepared as any actor could be. She had been through the toughest audition process she had ever known, but it all depended on this very last audition.
There were three beautiful, talented women in the last round of the auditions; but surely he would give her the role. He knew more than anyone how much she ached for this part. She had told him often enough.
Louisa was the last one to perform; halfway through her dialogue he cut her short, 'Thanks,' he said, 'I've seen enough.' He then turned to the first actress, a tall willowy blonde called Delphine, and promptly gave her the role.
Devastation was too mild a word for how Louisa felt, she had promised herself she would not put herself through this rejection anymore. Everyone else grabbed their coats and left, laughing and joking preparing to go to the local for a swift drink to celebrate. The show would go on for them, but not for her.
Louisa felt the exhaustion wash over her; she could do no more, at last it was over. She stood still as a statuette, the lights were turned off and she was completely alone, tears coursing down her cheeks.
She could not think, all she wanted was to lie down and die. Everything she had wanted, lived and breathed for was for nothing. He did not want her. Tonight was supposed to be magical, she had put more than her heart and soul into it, she had been consumed by her performance but it was not enough.
The relentless hours of rehearsal was all for nothing. The part should have been hers, it was her, and she identified totally with the character, an abandoned woman left destroyed by her love for a man. Louisa was that woman, had lived that experience. She had laid herself bare, sharing every heartbreaking moment. How could he not have seen it?
A light came on as the caretaker started his duties. Slowly she left the stage, tottering off stage left in her impossibly high-heeled green shoes, her beautiful dress swirling around her. As she took her costume off and redressed herself in her jeans and tee shirt she made a monumental decision, she was never going to audition for the Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society again. They didn't recognise talent when it was almost on the tip of their noses. She had heard their nasty little asides about her 'over-acting and the fact that she over dramatised everything'. What a bunch of talentless bitches. What did they know? Louisa knew she was destined for bigger and better things, so tomorrow she would try the Little Theatre Group.
