FLAT TIRE chapter 230

      That was our first flat time. What do we do now? The team was looking to me for answers. I walked on to the stage and told the team to flip the raft up so the audience could see the bottom and to change the tire. I wanted the audience to see what our problem and then I explained the situation.

Normally, we kept a spare tube blown up and ready to use at the back. We wanted to be prepared incase something like this ever happened. Well, there was no tube waiting and ready. Garry told me we would have to blow the spare up. That was going to take some time. The replacement work would take at least five or six minutes, maybe longer.

I began telling the audience stories of things had gone wrong on tour. I told them about all our on the road plays and skits.

Duane Patterson was so good looking that teen girls lined up to beg their parents to take him to their houses for the billet. This year they were choosing Terry.

We were in a very old and tiny church that had only fuses and all electrical outlets (2, I believe) were on the same circuit. We needed two circuits to run our system and had to gather up extension cords to run half our system from the parsonage.

I told the story of our first USA performance of No Time for Tombstones and the solder that dived under the pew when the AK47 showed up and the sound effects went off.

We were in a church that had stairs up from the basement that ended at the center of the stage (very strange). We were at a very quiet part of the play, I believe when Hank Blood was dying, and a Vietnamese soldier was sitting off stage near the top of the stairs when a fake hand grenade fell off his belt and bounced down hitting every single step all the way to the bottom.

There was the time when Garry got sick in the middle of a performance. We were on a school stage. There was a scene of a forced march and I directed them to take it back of the stage curtain instead of through the auditorium and while back stage Harvey exchanged shirts with Garry and took his place. No one ever knew.

There was the little boy who was so angry at Con, who was playing the Vietnamese Captain, that he came out after the show, kicked him in the shin and told him, “You’re mean.”

I told them of my perchance for promptness and our escapade in Hamilton when we needed new tires and Con and I were very late picking up the team to go on to the next stop. The rest of the team left a note in the foyer saying they had gone on without us, but they left their purses.

I told them of going to Morden, Manitoba where we had forgot all the makeup. We decided to make some yellow makeup from a mixture of mustard and Mayo found in the church fridge. In dull lights it didn’t look too bad, but it itched like crazy.

Then there was the snowstorm we fought our way through in the return from Morden to Regina. The engine compartment of the van got packed with snow and the van was crawled to a stop. Harvey did not have a winter coat and was freezing. We flagged down one car to ask for help and got nothing even asking that they stop at the next town and report our problem to the RCMP. They didn’t do that. The second car and two college guys somewhat drunk, but did help. Ultimately we crawled our way in our dying van back to Regina thanking God we had not frozen to death.

When the tire for the raft was reinstalled, I apologized and we started form the beginning. The audience had some laughs and was more much relaxed and happy. God allowed them to enjoy the performance.

The play went on without a hitch and was well received. One lady who at times wrote play reviews for the New York Times, wrote one for us that was published in the community paper. She reported that we told the story very well without pushing Christianity down their throats. She greatly appreciated our approach and the quality of the production. 

After the performance, Bob Bell brought a man over and introduced him to us. He was George, one of the sailors from the raft. What a surprise. He had traveled from Florida at Bob’s request just to see the play. We had a wonderful time with him. He talked a lot with Terry that night. Terry had portrayed him in the play.

Top right photos: Top row L-R: Clyde, Gary, George (our guest), Terry, 2nd row L-R: Duncan, Garry, 3rd row L-R: Carolyn, Lori Bob Bell, Dave, Front Rhonda, Betty