Michael, Agnes of God, and The Miracle Worker/2
I want to start this memoir by saying that I always had incredibly high standards for myself as a mother. I knew very well the kind of mother I wanted to be and–thank God–I got my chance with Michael.
Barnstormers was putting on the play, Agnes of God, which was turned into a movie. As usual, Michael was not on stage but had taken over all of the lighting of this production.
The drive to Barnstormers was awkward and long; once you got there you had to either drive all the way home again after a brief amount of time and then go back, or hang around the theater, trying to find something to do while Michael rehearsed. There was no shopping mall, library, bookstore in the whole area. Nevertheless, one night I decided to stay in the area of Barnstormers and wait.
This is where my high standards came into play. Once my son was inside the theater I waited in my car, then very quietly crept into the theater, hid myself in a shadowed area, and watched and listened. I normally would never do this…spying on Michael. But I had this one chance which probably wouldn’t come again…what parent wouldn’t to see what went on with her son?
What I saw made me spellbound and to this day I can’t really describe it. Agnes of God is a serious play with many emotional tones and moods; the lighting has to reflect that. Michael couldn’t see me–he was high up in a gallery–so I could watch him making subtle changes in his lighting throughout the rehearsal. He had some instruction from somebody but in Agnes of God he was on his own, creating his own mood-changing light patterns and colors. It was so beautiful, so adult and professional that I couldn’t breathe. I still get choked with emotion about that night.
And when we went to see the production of the play I just cried and cried. P understood how I felt, thank God. He was overwhelmed, too.
lgmwriting 