Playing time

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A little boy, about 10 years old, was playing quietly in the garden of his parents' home with his Playmobils® while soft opera music could be heard coming from the house nearby. Well, the soft music was covered by a rather out of tune voice... which led the boy to shout: "Mom! Take pity on our ears, let Cecilia Bartoli sing!" Laughing, a woman in her mid-thirties came out of the house and, jokingly looked down on the boy: "What, John? Are you telling her mother that she can't sing?" "Well... yes, mommy!" said John, before jumping out of catch and running far away, soon followed by his mother who managed to stop him before he could get over the grating. "Too late, sweetie, you'll pay for that!" And soon, she was tickling him without mercy, thinking apart 'Like his father, he is so ticklish it is almost too easy'. "I surrender, I surrender! You sing marvelously Cenerentola. Please, I apologize!" the boy managed to say between giggles. "You're lucky I am merciful, Johnny," said Cat before letting him go. Raising an eyebrow, she grinned, adding "And don't you dare go running again from your mother, ok?" Sticking his tongue out, John answered he'd never dare, of course. He asked his mother if he could go play on the playground near the house, where friends of him were already probably gathering. Having received the needed agreement, he ran quickly towards the street corner, seemingly not hearing his mother shouting he had to tidy up his Playmobils® before...

Cecilia Bartoli as Cenerentola

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Once on the playground, John was quite disappointed not to find his usual playmates. There were only two girls there, new to the neighborhood, he supposed, as he had never seen them before. 'Girls' thought he, 'they're probably talking about rope-skipping or any such uninteresting girls' game' and, snickering, he was about to go back home and pack his toys as his mother had told him to, when he overheard them talking about a Xena game. 'Xena?' Not being shy, and ready to many things to just talk about his favorite show, John decided to go greet the girls. After all, playing Xena was a great idea he often had, but none of his friends wanted to, preferring Star Trek or plain old cowboys vs. Indians games.
Soon was he introducing himself: "Hi, my name's John. I live around the corner, in the white house." To which the taller girl answered that she was called Emma. And, pointing to the blond one, she added: "She's my sister, her name's Rosy." Frowning, the little girl, all shy and silent a moment ago turned into a talking machine, glaring at her sister while she was explaining that her _real_ name was Rachael, but that her brunette sister kept trying to annoy her, saying she needed to have more assurance and not always turn beet red when people where trying to talk to her. Then, realizing that once again she had reacted the way her big sister wanted, revealing the real self behind the timid one, she turned... red pink... which caused Emma to finish jokingly: "See, John, I told you, she is rosy!" After what, asking to be forgiven, she hugged her little sister and, raising a menacing eyebrow towards John, she indicated that while she could tease her sister as much as she wanted, he had better not dare trying the same thing!

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The ice now broken between the three kids, they were soon chatting together, John learning about Emma and Rachael's arrival in the neighborhood the previous week-end, about the death of their dear father the year before, their life with their grandmother for almost a complete year, and about the fact they now were going to stay with their mother. Not wanting to ask too much about a seemingly touchy subject, John took the opportunity to change the conversation topic by asking the girls what they were about to do, hoping of course to be included in this thing about Xena they had been planning:
"We were preparing a Xena's show representation," answered Emma.
"Oh really, Xena?" interrupted John, vainly trying to sound calm and disinterested.
"Yeah, do you like Xena?"
"Are you kidding me? That's the best show ever! Of course I like it!" And, after a pause, he added in a dreamy voice: "When I'm be of age, I will marry her!", which caused a double irruption of laughter. "... Well, if she wants of me" did he finish, pitiful.
Smirking, Emma explained that they had decided to play the previous week's episode, 'Fins, Femmes and Gems', before adding that John was free to join them if he wanted. Nodding joyously, the boy began to ask Emma about their way of playing, the rules they were following (if there were any)... With astonishment, but pleasure too, he noted that Rachael was not the last to answer: when motivated, she was quite the fierce chatting one!
"... so we were looking for an adequate place, as mother doesn't want us to play Xena. She hates the show, because she hates granny, who has always encouraged us watching it and often told us Xena and Gabrielle stories." Sighing, Rachael looked adoringly at her big sister, adding: "But Emma had the idea to disguise our play and told mother we were simply going outside to discover our new neighbors!" Grinning approvingly, John assured the two girls that he would not betray their secret and that he knew the perfect place to play: in his home backyard, where the small plastic swimming-pool would make a nice lake, and the pine-tree and bamboos the forest to climb in and hide. Soon enough, the three of them were checking the location and agreed on playing there.

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"So, let's begin: who is playing who?"
"Well that's easy: I am Gabrielle, Emma is Xena and for you John, the only interesting boy role is Joxer, so there you are!"
"Wait, wait! This is too easy. I have a word in this!" protested John. While wanting if possible to play Xena, he was open to other suggestions, but Joxer... Was this to be considered a solution?
Rachael and John were staring at each other, both convinced they were right, when Emma stepped in:
"All right, all right. Don't argue like that. John, it is true that here we are, two girls and a boy to play two women and a man. The choice does seem clear, no?"
"But Joxer? Please!"
"Come on, let's do that today and we will talk about it again next time" concluded a grinning Rachael.
And, before he realized it, John knew it was too late: "Wait, I did not agree to play Joxer! I am not an ape-man!!" But the two girls had already began to run towards the cross-beam that represented the entrance of Aphrodite's temple:

Gabrielle: "How could Aphrodite steal the North Star?"
Xena: "She stole the Mystic Diamond from the temple of the heavens. Unless we get its powers back before nightfall, the North Star will go out, and the world will be in for some serious turmoil."

Joxer: "You mean, things that go bump in the night really will go bump in the night?"

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer entering Aphrodite's temple in Fins, femmes and gems

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That evening, little John was still trying to clean the undress he had borrowed from her mother's closet to play Attus when his parents came back home. Hiding the incriminated garment in the dirty clothes bag, the boy answered his father's questions, explaining how much fun he had playing with those two girls new to the neighborhood, and how the three of them had planned to play Xena again. Sighing, but with a gleam in his eyes that demented his words, John's father turned towards his wife, saying it was really terrible to see how she had contaminated her son with her own TV show obsession. Which of course led to a huge tickle fight... Later, while preparing himself for bed, John saw his mother enter his bedroom, her undress in her hand: "What exactly did you do with it, if I may ask?" Blushing a lot, the boy answered that they had played 'Fins, Femmes and Gems', and that, well, Attus... Laughing, Cat hugged her son, claiming that he was really a sweetie, and that he'd have the opportunity to show it to her tomorrow while helping her with the gardening, for he had borrowed without her permission her undress, and had almost destroyed it with his attempt to wash it! She then turned to leave the room, when she heard a small voice ask: "Mom, why can't I play Xena?" "What do you mean? I thought that was what you did this afternoon with those new friends of yours?" "Well, yes and no. We played Xena, the show, but I was Joxer. They told me that as I was a boy, I could only play boys. Why? I want to play Xena too, and even maybe Gabrielle now. She has learnt pretty nice kicks this season!" Thinking for a while, John's mother let a deep sigh out and answered: "This is classical, I can remember a time when I only played Princess Leia in 'Star Wars'." "Why not Queen Amidala? She's cool too!" "Well, darling, shall I remember you that at that time, the 'Phantom Menace' was something we never really hoped to see one day... But to go on with your problem, you know, Johnny, you can play anything you want. The key point is for you and your friends to enjoy yourself. And, you know, it happens very often that men play women's role and vice-versa; it is not abnormal or anything. For instance, do you remember 'Der Rosenkavalier', which we saw in September? Octavian is a young man in the story, but it was a woman who was (as always) singing the role. In No theater also, men play women's parts, and so on." "Yes, but what if they don't want me to?" "Well, sweetie, it is possible that they used it more than anything as an excuse to play the roles they wanted. You have to show them you all need to share and that, after all, if wearing a woman's undress was fine, why playing a woman wouldn't? And there is one thing that can help you with that: did you enjoy playing Joxer this afternoon?" "Well, at the beginning, I was a bit pissed off, but it soon got really funny. And, of course, the moment when I jumped from the pine-tree to catch Rachael and ended in the swimming-pool with the two of them was incredible. Yes, I liked it in fact." And, understanding what his mother meant, John grinned. "I see, I will explain them how much more fun we can have if we all play every part. Diversity rocks in fact! Thanks mother!" And the little boy took his Argo teddy in his arms while his mother was shutting the light and leaving the room...

Princess Leia Queen Amidala Renée Fleming and Susan Graham as die Feldmarschallin and Octavian

Cat, August, 24th, 2000.