> You want to know what the funny thing is, Enigma? I don't even know what it is I'm doing up there. I get on stage, and I do whatever feels natural, regardless of what kind of character I'm supposed to be playing. Half the time, I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm completely clueless.
>
> And then I get this review, so I must be doing something right. What it is, though... beats the heck out of me.
>
> -Rifty


In the last role that I played, I had to be a crazy guy. Completely off-the-wall, looney, with sudden outbursts and rants. Jumping-onto-pianos-and-shouting-about-Chekov crazy. I think the character probably had a combination of schizoaffective disorder and a few others thrown in for good measure.

A few months after the play was over, I was in a library, checking out a book, when a kind elderly lady next to me suddenly recognized me. She wasn't sure where she knew me from, but when I mentioned the community theater, she said, "OH! That's right! You were in that play... You were--." She suddenly froze in position with her mouth open for a few seconds. She took a few nervous steps away from me, and then I just dropped off her radar. For all intents and purposes, I no longer existed in her universe.

It had never occurred to me that somebody in the audience might not realize that I was really acting. At first, I thought about the thousand people that had seen the play during its month-long course, and was afraid for the impact that it might be having on my reputation.

Then I thought about it a bit more, and I smiled. If you look at it another way, what she did was the best compliment I'd ever been given.

- Enigma