I'll admit this is a bit of a re-heat, having posted it before, but it's to do with assembly parts:
I remember having an assembly part in the early seventies, based around one of those godawful “What about Dating?” articles in one of the magazines. (no one in England even calls it “dating” do they?)
I was a pretty good and faithful dub, really, a regular pioneer, a MS, that kind of thing, but I do remember thinking that this article was just plain ridiculous. Way over the top.
And that feeling, I think, came through in the way I ended up playing this sketch.
You’ll be familiar with the set up:
Basically right-hearted but spiritually weak young teenage brother confides in understanding, compassionate elder that he “just can’t understand” this magazine article [holding it in his hand] about dating.
Caring and wise elder “reasons” with weak teenage brother over twenty minutes or so and finally young brother fully comes around to the approved Watchtower viewpoint and expresses joy and gratitude to Jehovah for correcting his wayward thinking.
Now, what happened certainly wasn’t deliberate and conscious behaviour on my part – it was a bit Freudian, probably - but I remember vaguely forming an intention to kind of make the “before” character seem reasonable and likeable, and playing my “after” character in a wholly lifeless and zombiefied manner.
In rehearsals I hadn’t really given them any clue, I had enough sense to tone down the “before” guy, and it wasn’t word-for-word scripted, it was slightly different each time. …But on the night..
“Hello young Brother [Hormones]! Why, you look a bit down-in-the-dumps! Anything wrong?”
“Oh, hi Brother Elder, it’s nothing really. …Well, it’s… it’s just this Watchtower article [produces same with flourish] about dating. You know I’ve been getting quite friendly with young sister [Nubile] recently? Spending time in field service together?”
“Yes indeed! Fine activity! And the article gives us timely counsel. What’s the problem?”
“It’s just this [holds magazine and pretends to quote, in a quite frankly mocking tone] “ …heartbreak… unhappy marriages… unevenly yoked… teenage pregnancies… loathsome sexual diseases…” [looks up] - For Goodness sake! I only want to take her to the Pictures!”
Even after all these years I smile about this, because I REALLY delivered that line.
Well, it brought the house down. Maybe 10 or 15 seconds of top-volume laughter followed by a round of applause. I basked.
This, of course, was not how we rehearsed it, and full credit to the elder who after a few seconds pulled himself together and carried on with the sketch. I did too, I played my part thereafter exactly as we rehearsed it (I was very conscious of the buzz of conversation going on as people kept talking over the sketch)
The part ended, I (my character) was fully turned around and restored to Watchtower orthodoxy, and we shuffled offstage.
I had people congratulate me through the day on my assembly part – I felt like an Oscar winner. It was great, I had made the article look ridiculous (which it was) but I had done nothing wrong, because I had allowed myself (my character) to be won over in the end. I had ended up with the correct viewpoint. It was a strange kind of victory, but real nonetheless.
I heard the CO wanted to talk to me.
“Yes, well done, Duncan. Very – uhhh - lively.”
“Thank you, Brother Merry. [ David Merry – anyone remember him?]
“You got a big laugh there. You KNEW you would, didn’t you?”
“er… yeah..”
“ yes...” He said. That was all.
I never got asked to do an assembly part ever again.
Still, that one moment in time….