Friday, August 18, 2006

Too Much Or Not Enough

Yesterday the flow of 11:11 and the focus on The Unnoticed changed abruptly when I heard that Andre Dec passed away suddenly. He was 30 or thereabouts. Andre was one of our actors from The Autumn Hours, Brian's play about life and love. We never knew Andre very well. I talked with him during rehearsals now and then. He was one of the gang in the way casts bond for a production but don't necessarily make lifelong friends. I went to an audition in Somerville 3 weeks ago for The Margaret Ghost and Andre auditioned too. He was good. I reckoned he'd get cast in the show. We chatted after and I promised to return his CD finally, the one we used in The Autumn Hours. He gave me his cell, I called it so he had mine, and we said bye. So now we move along? No fanfare. No memorial. The services are in another state somewhere. Someone in the cast suggested a reunion performance dedicated to Andre. The thought resonated with a few people. But it's probably not going to happen. Why? Maybe it's too much. Maybe it's too little. So that's all. Does a dramaturg get involved if a company is going to choose to present a special performance in memory of a deceased, young actor that was once a part of the group? I don't know. But I thought it bears recording insomuch as it could influence the atmosphere for a while, and insomuch as I couldn't ignore its influence in general.