When Allister would stand on stage, whether it be to deliver an oration or as an actor (His credits included Guard in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Guard in Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure, Guard in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Guard in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, V, VI, VII, Lieutenant in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, as well as some Shaw (Most notably: Guard in Antony and Cleopatra-for which he borrowed from previous character study.)), the thought gurgled in Allister's brain that the common adage of the day was to picture the audience in the nude in order to avoid the rattling of nerves that come with public speech. To this, Allister could never subscribe. Far be it from Allister to deny the idea from those who seemingly found this perverse practice to be truthful. But, an audience staring intently at Allister, in complete nudity with all secret birthmarks and tattoos exposed did little to make Allister feel comfortable. In fact, it did the most opposite. For what fully clothed man, when arriving unexpectedly to a party filled with nudes, would feel comfortable in appearance?
A madman, to be sure, would keep his coat on, would walk to the punch bowl still wearing his gloves, would shake hands and hug and peck cheeks as if they were connected to fully clothed bodies. But, a sane man would have but two choices-leave the party with a polite bow or remove your clothing with polite unbuttoning. And Allister, never being one to miss a party, preferred the latter. This held true for an audience listening to Allister. If they were all splendid in their nudity, well Allister too, would feel the need to drop pants and unbutton shirt at the podium before delivering a line. Of course, the idea was only to pretend that the audience was naked. But, there was little difference for someone with so potent an imagination as Allister's.
No, this would not work for Allister. Instead, he came by another method. He simply imagined the audience as a gathering of headless people. In this way, he could say what he truly wished to say, feel what he wished to feel, dance as he wished to dance (if he indeed wished to dance) and no one would know. They could not know. Not without their heads. Of course, they were not dead. They were kept alive by invisible intravenous feed from Allister's brain. For, to perform in front of dead people was more than macabre. It was also morbid, cadaverous, eerie, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid, lurid, offensive, unearthly, and weird. So, these headless people were most certainly imagined alive. In fact, some still wore their bowlers and derbies atop their collars as if they did have heads. But, they did not. These, of course, would give Allister a giggle. As did the scarves and ascots.
And this was how Allister felt free upon stage. Free to deliver poignant speech or to perform poignant guardly task.
A madman, to be sure, would keep his coat on, would walk to the punch bowl still wearing his gloves, would shake hands and hug and peck cheeks as if they were connected to fully clothed bodies. But, a sane man would have but two choices-leave the party with a polite bow or remove your clothing with polite unbuttoning. And Allister, never being one to miss a party, preferred the latter. This held true for an audience listening to Allister. If they were all splendid in their nudity, well Allister too, would feel the need to drop pants and unbutton shirt at the podium before delivering a line. Of course, the idea was only to pretend that the audience was naked. But, there was little difference for someone with so potent an imagination as Allister's.
No, this would not work for Allister. Instead, he came by another method. He simply imagined the audience as a gathering of headless people. In this way, he could say what he truly wished to say, feel what he wished to feel, dance as he wished to dance (if he indeed wished to dance) and no one would know. They could not know. Not without their heads. Of course, they were not dead. They were kept alive by invisible intravenous feed from Allister's brain. For, to perform in front of dead people was more than macabre. It was also morbid, cadaverous, eerie, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, horrid, lurid, offensive, unearthly, and weird. So, these headless people were most certainly imagined alive. In fact, some still wore their bowlers and derbies atop their collars as if they did have heads. But, they did not. These, of course, would give Allister a giggle. As did the scarves and ascots.
And this was how Allister felt free upon stage. Free to deliver poignant speech or to perform poignant guardly task.
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