Just Play Pretend by Jennifer Ann Shore

Author:Jennifer Ann Shore [Shore, Jennifer Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

“Don’t you dare speak,” Tess growls, voice groggy and sunglasses fixed firmly in place.

I wondered how she’d fare after the overpoured glasses of sangria, and this morning, I’m getting my answer.

She crawls into the backseat of my Jeep, buckles in, and sprawls out as best she can. “Why does gravity have to exist today?”

“Gravity?” I repeat. “That’s who you’re blaming?”

Cole shakes his head as he slides into the passenger seat and closes the door.

“Did you have to slam it?” Tess snaps.

He glances over his shoulder. “I didn’t—”

“No music, either.”

“Fine,” he breathes.

“Hi,” I say quietly to Cole.

The corner of his mouth ticks up. “Hi.”

Tess puts her hands over her ears. “No talking.”

“You’re going to have a hell of a time at rehearsal today if you can’t even tolerate our two words,” I tell her.

“Waiting for the pills to kick in,” she grumbles.

I crack the window, wanting at least some noise to accompany us on the drive over to the theater.

She, thankfully, doesn’t complain while Cole and I continue our game of silent conversation, catching each other’s eye at every stoplight and exchanging small smiles.

When we arrive, we immediately split up.

Cole heads over to chat with Craig, who greets him warmly. Tess moves slowly toward the entrance, likely heading backstage to find a dark corner to sit in. I head straight to the stage, excited to begin rehearsing with movement.

We start off on a good note with the tea party, which has been morphed into a basement house party to be more relatable. It’s my favorite scene of them all because it includes Andrew, Beau, Mike—who plays Dormouse—and a middle-schooler named Aggie who plays the Duchess.

I thought casting a thirteen-year-old was a strange choice, considering the character in the movie was played by a forty-something-year-old actor. But watching Aggie’s talent and stage presence as she speaks in a high English accent only brings more charm to the entire production.

By contrast, I dread the scenes with Esme.

She’s only in the play toward the end and delivers the “Off with her head!” with a frightening amount of enthusiasm. It’s the big bang in the production that sets off the chaos of arguing before I mock-faint.

In the book, that moment is the catalyst for Alice to wake up in her bedroom and realize Wonderland was all a dream. But for this version, after I pretend to collapse and am whisked off, I make a grand escape with the help of the White Rabbit.

The play ends with Alice standing at a crossroads, looking at the options ahead for her next grand adventure.

As she takes a decisive step, the lights dim, and the curtain drops.

For our rehearsing purposes, though, instead of walking through our bows, we simply all move toward the end of the stage where Joe is waiting to give us notes. I need to work on my projection in the party scene, and a few other actors have feedback on what they can improve on as well.

All in all, the show is coming together nicely, which is insane to think about, considering the short amount of time we’ve had to put it together.

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