Tattoo

THEATER 9
-fall 1985
Each fall the high school sent a one-act play to a theater festival at West Chester University. Mr. Roach asked me whether i'd be interested (one of the sillier questions i'd ever heard). The play was TATTOO, a two-man show about a businessman who ducks out of a storm into a tattoo parlor. And my playing partner…Lou Markert! Our antipathy was still only moderate at this point. We were an understandable pairing, for we had given perhaps the two standout performances of the fall play. Lou was the eccentric tattoo artist, and i played Joseph Clement. I enjoyed working with him, we were good together. His character had grandiose tattoo visions, culminating in "View of Toledo" across my back. My character almost takes a lesser plunge, but bolts as soon as the rain lets up. The show went over very well. We were nominated for an award or two, including best actor for Lou. There was another one-act traveling with us, with a cast of nine or ten juniors. Afterwards, i fell asleep on the bus, and some of my fellow actors made me up like a girl. Lou took malicious delight. I felt a little betrayed, but refused to give anyone the satisfaction of a hurt response.