Playing Juliet

Playing Juliet — page 7 — 2 PLAYING JULIET blanket covering the line where their costumes overlapped And the smallest Mouse Molly clenched her hands into fists and stared down at the floor This was her first play All the Mice wear bright pink circles outlined in black on the end of their noses When Molly was putting on her makeup I saw her clean off that circle and redraw it at least four times I leaned over to her and whispered Great nose circling my finger over the tip of my own She looked up smiled and took a step toward me Break a leg she said softly Before I could return with a Break a leg of my own Molly raised her voice I remembered it’s bad luck to say Good luck Shh The audience can hear We don’t want anything to go wrong on opening night And as soon as I said it I realized that something was already wrong You’re standing on my tail I whispered pointing frantically to where my fluffy fur tail was trapped under her black ballet slipper In the dim backstage light she couldn’t see what the problem was You’re standing on my tail I whispered even louder A surge of music drowned out my voice Molly stepped closer to hear what I was trying to tell her Her other foot landed on my tail just as I tried to pan tomime the problem by giving it a little jerk The music

Playing Juliet — page 8 — JOANNE STEWART WETZEL 3 paused and we both heard the rip as the tail came off in my hand Beth what are you going to do Molly sounded terrified Don’t worry I said patting her shoulder The stage manager always has safety pins for costume emergencies I managed not to step on anyone else’s tail as I backed out of the crowd of animals and headed for the dim blue light on Austin’s desk Austin Santiago the stage manager was dressed in black like all the crew members He sat hunched over a copy of the script talking softly into his headset his dark hair sticking straight up as if it were standing at attention I waved my tail in front of him until I got his attention and mouthed Emergency repair What are you doing here Austin asked Actors are supposed to stay in the dressing room until it’s time for their entrance Busted Now there was no way I could finish watching this play from the wings Austin would be on the lookout for me He ran a tight backstage Austin’s only fourteen which is young to be a stage manager even at our theater but he’s really good at his job He picked up a battered black box from his desk shook it frowned then looked into it Empty he said I thought I checked last night He looked into it again Not a single pin

Playing Juliet — page 9 — 4 PLAYING JULIET I’ll run down to the costume shop and bring some back Austin nodded and turned his attention to an urgent voice speaking through his headset I left him to deal with his next emergency glancing at the clock on his desk as I left I only had fifteen minutes until my entrance Emergency repair I called as I entered the costume shop No one was there Our costume mistress Mrs Lester was probably in the rack room I stepped around the huge cutting table that ran down the middle of the room opened the door poked my head in and called again Emergency repair No one Just thousands of costumes hanging silently on the racks Where was she I ran over to the cutting table and grabbed the safety pin box Empty I looked on the table on the floor Not a safety pin to be seen I glanced up at the monitor The opening music was still playing I had a little time left Actors don’t fix their own costumes when the play is running but I was out of options Thank goodness I was wearing a leotard underneath I stepped out of my black fur suit and headed for the line of sewing machines that sat against the rear wall

Playing Juliet — page 10 — JOANNE STEWART WETZEL 5 I turned my costume inside out and slid the tail between the thick fabric I locked it in place under the needle sewed the tail and the ripped seam together with a careful line of stitches reversed and sewed back over it Stacks of boxes stretched from floor to ceiling on the wall to my right I glanced at the labels on the top row ANGEL WINGS COWBOY HATS FAUN EARS TURBANS I looked away quickly Usually when I work down here I try to make up a play that includes all the items stored on one shelf but I had no time to waste I reversed once more and sewed another line That should keep it together practically forever I thought I pulled the cat suit out of the machine and started to turn it right-side out That was when I realized that the tail was on the inside I’d sewn it in backwards Three times To keep it together practically forever I glanced up at the monitor that showed the stage The performance had started I had less than ten minutes until my entrance I grabbed a pair of scissors and started to pick out the stitches I was still tugging at the stubborn threads when the door to the shop opened Relief flooded through me as Mrs Lester appeared car rying a large bolt of red felt As always her graying blonde hair was escaping from her ponytail and six or seven straight pins were stuck haphazardly in the front of her sweater

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