Hot bodies pressed together in near total darkness
Electricity thrilling the air
Energy flashing from one person through the crowd in a matter of seconds

Hands brushing
Faces touching
Sweat soaking the already too-thick air

One entity
One body
Though the people in black melt into the shadows
And flecks of brightly colored costumes melt into the light

One mind
One purpose
A machine
If machines could be blazing with fierce excitement

Here there are no stars
No small roles or unimportant jobs
Because the spotlight is really on the dark, frenzied heat of backstage

Here a barely audible whispered command
Carries more weight
Is followed more quickly
Than the full-throated bellow of the director

Here all are united in
Mind
Body
Soul
Purpose

Even as everyone is hyperaware
Of every individual surrounding them

Their heat
Their heartbeat
The taste of their electricity

And though some don’t touch the light
Burning at the corners of the electric darkness
It is theirs
Just as the light belongs to all of them
Just as the vibrant blackness
Belongs to all those who hide themselves in its smothering embrace

And no on can think through the raw electricity and adrenaline
But so much the better
For instead, they simply act
Only passion at their disposal

And passion suffices
In the blazing
Darkness