The Impatient Actor

He was an actor before he was anything else. Long before he stepped foot on a stage, he was an actor. Cleverly spinning yarns for the people around him to listen and marvel at, wondering how such a young man carried on such grand adventures. He loved being the center of it all, it was an addiction that the public was too keen to feed. 

The actor was young and foolish, and did not understand that there was a time that he needed to bow out and allow someone else to claim center stage. Raging in jealousy whenever the director would move him to the side, his place being taken by a different brand of hero. That spotlight was all that he loved, and he would desperately try to win the affection of her shine. 

Unbeknownst to the fuming actor, The Director had a plan, His vision ever clear to His eyes only. The Director had been in the business for a very long time, earning Himself a reputation as both a gentle force, but one that could be quite unforgiving. There were some that refused to believe that He had created the moments that He had all on His own, claiming that there was no way for just one being to accomplish such feats. 

The ever impatient actor would ask The Director what he could do to earn his place back in the spotlight, and often would be met with silence. The Director had His plan, and it would reveal itself in time. The script was clear, the actor would just have to play the role assigned to him for the time being.

 

As months went by and productions came and went, the actor grew weary and restless, still pondering what it was that he could have done differently. Constantly wondering what he had done wrong to anger The Director so. As the time went on, however, the actor did begin to pick things up now that he was out of the spotlight. While he missed her heat, he could now appreciate the dark corners of the stage where the lesser characters lurked, creating their own story in the shadow of those in the light. He started to empathize with them, feeling their suffering, understanding their plight. The show must go on, and go on it did. 

Years down the road the actor, aged quite a bit, had now grown comfortable in the shadow of the stage. He understood clearly that he was there to aid the entire look of the show, elegantly giving the new main actor just enough to create a conceivable story. While he still yearned for the love of the spotlight, he was content knowing that all he had done made the production a deeper experience for all of those involved. The Director had noticed the growth. 

The tired actor, eyes sunken but still bright, asked The Director what he would have him do for the following show. “Would you have me talk to the peasants that wait outside the castle, while the king flirts lavishly with his handmaidens?” the actor questioned. 

"No" The Director bellowed

Again, the actor went on “Perhaps you’d like me to go to the village center and buy a loaf of bread, adding to the credibility that this is a true world we are in?” 

"No" The Director spoke, softly but with authority. 

The actor was growing impatient, and rather nervous that his time in the company may be up. “What would you have of me then?” 

"Many years ago when you had first found this place, it was clear that you loved what you could do on that stage. You loved captivating an audience, but you knew not why. You fell deeply in love with that spotlight, but took it for granted all the same." 

"I was a different person back then," the actor explained. 

"You were an impatient lad, only caring about the wonderful feeling the spotlight gave you every night, not understanding that you were giving nothing back. You were not yet ready for that, and so we had to bring someone else in." 

"I understand that. I was bitter and angry, but You are the boss, we all answer to You and Your plan here." the actor quietly replied.

"You didn’t see that I had a plan, you were one that would assume I could never create what I have created all on my own. But now you see, yes? Now you see that you must lend yourself to create a world, that each and every being in the world is of importance, no matter how minor or trivial they seem. Now you understand that you must earn the love of the light, by giving her something worthwhile to shine upon." 

The actor rose his head, finally understanding what The Director was saying. The Director smiled an old and knowing smile, eyes shining with millennia of knowledge, and handed the young actor a script. The always eager actor opened it up and began to weep, for he could see that he was finally to stand in her light again after all these years. The actor thanked The Director and walked towards the curtain.

The curtain opened up to a crowd that went unseen by the actor, as all he knew was that the warm glow of the light was upon him once again, he was home, he could rest.