Dwilight University/Arts/Pastimes off Stage
"Pastimes off Stage"
In a small village far from the city there lived a young noble named Durhren. One afternoon, Durhren woke up and felt bored and unfulfilled. He wandered around his father’s estate looking for something to do but found nothing worth paying attention to. Then he decided to leave the house and wander the village. Out in the world, he walked by the village theatre. He remembered all the amusing plays he saw in the theatre and thought that maybe he could view one today. Inside, he saw that there was no performance on stage, but a cast of players practicing for a show in the next few months. Intrigued, he spoke with the director on how he could help. He was cast in a small part.
He was cast to play the sidekick of the evil witch of the Broken Castle. He loved performing the part so much that he continued to be the character off stage. At first, his friends and family thought it was funny and applauded him. When the play debuted, Durhren did an excellent job and the show was a hit. Afterward, when his friends and family went to congratulate him, they found that he was still performing his part. As the days went on they became annoyed. Durhren never left the theatre and eventually never stepped out of character. His friends and family prayed that he would leave the theatre and stop acting when the play finally ended. He did not.
After a month passed, two of Durhren’s friends from the theatre decided to stop the charade for the last time. They went to the director and convinced him to cast Durhren in a different role so he could snap out of this one. Just as before, when Durhren began to perform his new part, he completely embodied the character. He absorbed the new role so well that it became his only personality. His friends and family went into distress and frustration over what was happening. Then another afternoon, those two friends had another conversation with the director. They wrote a play about a character named Durhren who acted much like the real man. Casting Durhren in this role, they thought, would finally snap him out of his fantasy and bring him back to himself.
After they did this, Durhren began to act like himself again and everyone thought things were back to normal. However, as the days went on they realized he was only performing the Durhren from the play, which was a limited version of the real Durhren, and he still never left the theatre. He was not the fully dimensioned person he was before.
One morning, a friend of the director from the theatre in the city came down to be a guest actor in the next play. He was a famous celebrity in the city and a very talented actor. He even educated young performers on the craft. When he arrived, he was introduced to Durhren, that is, the character of Durhren. People started to tell the actor about Durhren’s unusual behaviour and about how they tried to snap him out of it. Wise, the actor knew what needed to be done. He told the director to cast Durhren as an animal in the upcoming play. When Durhren transformed completely into the jungle animal the actor sat him on the stage in front of a tall mirror. The actor adjusted Durhren’s head to face the mirror and then said,
- “What are you? Who are you?”
Durhren answered, “I am a mountain lion. I am a mountain lion.”
Then he began to lick the mirror and claw at it. The actor held him firm in front of the mirror and said,
- “Look! You are not a mountain lion you are Durhren”
Durhren began purring. The actor pointed to the mirror and said,
- “Look!” Durhren looked at the mirror and said,
- “Are you sure?”
The actor signaled to his assistant outside who brought in an actual mountain lion. Sitting the animal beside the mirror, the actor pointed to it and said to Durhren,
- “Look! You are not a mountain lion, you are a man.”
Durhren looked at the animal and then at the mirror and said,
- “Are you sure?"
The actor faced Durhren to the mirror again and said,
- “Look! You played many parts on the stage and each one you believed to be yourself. But you are not a mountain lion, you are Durhren!”
Comparing the images he saw, Durhren realized who he really was.
Later that day, the actualized Durhren began studying the craft of acting under the famous actor from the city. Now each time he performs a role he does an excellent job, but remembers to stop when it is no longer necessary.
