There's only one chance.
No cuts, no rewinds, no let's do it again, no turning back, no time for hesitation.
On stage, everything is illuminated.
Your footsteps, your voice, your face (thus explaining the thick stage make-ups).
Under those lights, everything is exposed. The good, and the bad.
Those who've been on stage will know.
When those lights come down on you, all that you can see is a blinding beam, and nothing more.
No audience.
When you stand on that stage, all that you can hear is yourself and a silent theatre, and nothing more.
No one else.
You can only feel yourself, your heartbeat.
Even if it is an empty theatre, it will feel the same, except minus that applause.
Under those lights, you are alone. You can only depend on yourself.
If a minute is all you've got, then that is how long you have to prove you are worthy of that minute.
If one dialogue line is all you've got, then that is how much you can say out loud you are worthy of that sentence.
Whether or not you're a first-timer, full-timer, or an amatuer, the stage will not differentiate. Cos you still only have one chance. No more, no less.
It is when doing your best is never enough.
You have to prove that you are worthy.
Worthy of that stage you stand on.
Worthy of that chance given to you.
This is different from life.
I would say, being on stage is more than living life.
In life, there may be five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes a year.
In theatre, you may just only have a minute.
In life, when you fumble and fall, there are chances to pick yourself up. You just need to walk a longer distance to where you want to go.
In theatre, when you flawed, there is no chance to make up for imperfection. Curtains are down, and everything's over. Even if you get on the same stage again, you cannot correct that fact you erred in that show.
Never.