LAWRENCE
Lawrence and I met through an email.
It was a message outlining the technical specifications of the Players’ Guild Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario. Being the house technician, Lawrence had sent me a detailed breakdown of lighting, sound, and staging for my upcoming performance at the Hamilton Fringe Festival. I smiled when I first read it, because all I needed was a microphone and a stool. After all, I barely moved on stage.
He even gave me a selection of stools to choose from. The man is a true professional.
We spoke on the phone later that day, and I felt Lawrence’s kindness instantly. I assured Lawrence that I needed about 7 minutes for my tech rehearsal. He mentioned I have 4 hours available to me. I said then we will be staring at each other for 3 hours and 53 minutes. He laughed.
The week prior to my first performance in Hamilton, Lawrence emailed me asking when I would like to show up to my rehearsal. My first show was at 7PM. The rehearsal was scheduled at 1PM. I did not want to show up at 1PM. Lawrence did not want to show up at 1PM. We met at 6:30PM.
The rehearsal took a whopping full 2 minutes. Most of it was looking at stools.
Throughout the few days I was at the theater, Lawrence was on top of everything: From on stage to behind the stage and from pre-show to post-show. He knew the mentality of the performers dictated their performance. He dedicated himself to make sure I was comfortable.
Between the shows we chatted. He shared with me that he taught at a local university outside of this job. He told me he always appreciated students who may not have been the brightest, but those who had strong spirits. Being 30 years my senior, he was my dad’s age. I asked him if he were going to retire soon.
“Retirement is a state of mind, Ed.” He said.
After my final performance, Lawrence came backstage to say good-bye. To my surprise, he handed me an envelope, and inside was a $50 gift card to Tim Horton’s. Seeing my confused face, he said it was a thank you to me for being so flexible and so easy to work with. I thanked him profusely and said this wasn’t necessary. I told him that we did spend a lot of time picking out stools. He laughed for one last time before we parted.
I hope one day I get to see Lawrence again, and perhaps we will go for coffee at Tim Horton’s. Until then, I will keep my spirit strong, like the students whom he treasured so much.
-Ed.