Title: Curtain Up Letterbox (an outdoor comedy/drama [that depends on
you!] in four acts, featuring an easy walk and easy clues complete with
glossary of theatrical terms)

Setting: Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Vienna, VA.
Mornings or matinees any day of the year as the park closes at dark.
(Please note that admittance to the park may be limited during actual Filene
Center or Theater in the Woods performances)

Admission: Free to letterboxers old and young.

Playwright: BeMa

Premiere: November 20, 2002

Prologue: Wolf Trap is Americas National Park for the Performing Arts.
The 100 acres of grounds is a nice place to picnic or roll down a hill. It
is also home to the 6,800-seat indoor/outdoor theater, the Filene Center.
During the summer, you can buy either the cheap lawn seats or the reasonably
priced indoor seats and listen to a wide variety of music, theater, opera
and multimedia presentations. Wolf Trap also features a special theater,
dedicated to performances for children. At the end of each summer, the
meadow is the scene for an international childrens festival, complete with
Bob from Sesame Street.

Wolf Trap is right off the Dulles Toll Road. There is ample parking
available in the lot. You may also save yourself the walk up the hill by
parking in the limited spaces available by the box office.

Act I: The Set Up
Scene I

Chorus: You have all been cast in an adventure in search of the elusive
Curtain Up Letterbox. There will be no techs to help you as you descend
mighty mountains, cross vast plains and forge great waters (o.k. so thats a
slight exaggeration). The path is easy, the way is clear (and there are
lots of bathrooms along the way). Go, hit your mark and break a leg!
Act II: The Journey

At the top of the hill collect the props you will need for this performance:
a compass, the clues, the glossary and your other letterboxing
paraphernalia. Pass by the Will Call box office on the left and enter
through the ticket gates toward the Filene Center. Proceed to the left of
the outdoor theater lobby, passing the entrance for Section A. Passing this
gangway, go down the set of stairs following the signs to the restrooms.
Pass one set of bathrooms (mens room) on the left and continue down the
stairs following more restroom signs. Continuing downhill, cut across the
little grass hill following more restroom arrow signs. Go on the cement
path, which quickly leads to the asphalt drive toward the back of the Filene
Center. Take a left and head across the grassy meadow, passing a whole
building of bathrooms (men, women and unisex). Aim for the bridge ahead,
passing by birdfeeder #2. Cross the bridge and take the gravel path to the
left. Follow the path along the river a short distance until you see an
informational display sign, telling about the forests of Wolf Trap. Face
that sign and take the path to your left. Pass the following signs
identifying the following trees, acting as spear carriers along the path:
the American Holly, Mountain Laurel, White Oak, Tulip Poplar, Northern Red
Oak, Chestnut Oak, Flowering Dogwood, Ironwood and Flowering Azalea that
line both sides of the path. At the T, continue to the right.

Act III: The arrival at the Show

In the clearing ahead is the Theater in the Woods. Become part of the house
and let a member or two of your company entertain you upon the boards.
There is no time for a dress rehearsal beginners to their places. Enjoy
the adlibs and asides, prompting the cast and cueing any special effects,
while they chew the scenery. Once the run of their show has come to an
end, let the cast enjoy its curtain call. When the echoes of all the bravos
and encores have faded away, join them on the stage and exit, stage left
through the wooden wings to the greenroom.

Go out the imaginary stage door at the back of the theater, down the
backstage stairs and spot a tree to your right.

Act IV: The Denouement

Starting from that tree, head off in a northerly direction for 29 steps,
into the woods. There you will spot a natural version of the theater you
have just left. The stage is a big piece cut piece of log, standing on its
end, mimicking a stage. Before it are other cut sections of logs shaped in
a V reminiscent of the seats. Look at the apex of the V in the SRO
section, if you will, under some smaller logs and leaves for the leading
role of the show, the Curtain Up Letterbox. Curtain falls. The cheering
is wild! Take your bows. Curtain falls. Bring up the house lights.
You've starred in another successful show and a stamp in your own special
Playbill to commemorate it.

Please send your reviews of this letterbox (raves or pans) to BeMa at
BeMa57@hotmail.com.

Glossary of Terms
Adlibs: Improvisation.
Asides: Lines spoken by actors to the audience.
Beginners to their places: First actors out on stage at the start of a
show.
Box office: Ticket booth.
Break a leg: Good luck.
Cast: Actors in the show.
Chew the scenery: Ham it up.
Company: The cast, crew and staff of a show.
Cueing: Prompt for a technical effect.
Curtain call: Bows at the end of the show.
Denouement: The moment of highest drama.
Dress rehearsal: Final rehearsal, in full costume, prior to the opening.
Greenroom: The room or area close to the stage where the actors relax.
Hit your mark: Stand in the proper place on stage and get ready.
Matinee: Afternoon performance.
Pans: Negative reviews.
Playbill: Famous show program.
Prompt: Hint of a line.
Props: Items used on stage.
Raves: Positive reviews.
Run: Sequence of performances.
Spear-carrier: Actor with a small or walk on part having no lines.
SRO: Standing room only area at the way back of the audience.
Stage left: The left from the actors point of view (opposite to regular
left).
Techs: Members of the technical crew.
The boards: The stage.
The house: Audience.
Wings: The out of view areas to the sides of the stage.




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