Dressing Room Chatter

I'm on stage, very heavily involved in my character.
It is a dramatic character, very intense; I challenge my parents, I push buttons
I am the antagonist.

The lights dim and act one comes to a close.
The audience is left to wonder the outcome of the problem child and the dysfunctional family.

In the dressing room, we are cracking jokes, laughing, talking about our day.
We are being crass, humorous, jovial.
Nothing about the show is really happening it is a thing outside of us all.
More laughter.
The stage manager calls us to places.

I head to stage left.
I take a few deep breaths, I center myself.
The lights dim.
I head out on stage and I am the challenging problematic brat.
I am intense and difficult.

I laughed a few days at that contrast.  That the world of our stage and character is so different, so removed. It seems almost impossible what we do as actors, the transition from one life to another.
But we do it all the time. The marvel of acting.