Peggy had listened anxiously, almost without breathing. Now, as she looked at Alison, who was obviously seething as she opened her sides, Peggy wondered if this casting wouldn’t create too many difficulties. She knew that Chuck was right, though. His explanation made perfect sense. It was best for the play. But how was Alison going to react? How would rehearsals go if Alison remained as hostile as she was now? Peggy watched her worriedly and was shocked to see the hateful glance that Alison returned.
Peggy grew more and more nervous as the time approached for her to read. She hadn’t considered this before, but Alison was a very good actress with a fine technique. Would Peggy be able to do as well in this part? Her mouth was dry and she was terribly tense. She stumbled over her first lines as she felt everyone watching her—Chuck hopefully, Chris and Danny curiously, Rita with calm compassion, and Alison with a spiteful expression that said, “All right—let’s see you try and do it!”
No audience could ever be as critical as this small group of professional actors. And even though she had a week to work, Peggy knew that she was being severely judged on this first reading.
XIII
Double Trouble
During the week of rehearsal Peggy found that the drama inherent in the part itself wasn’t going to be enough to carry her through. Evelyn was a girl who was emotionally disturbed and there was one scene toward the end of the play when she broke down altogether and appeared in a state of unreasonable fear. Peggy worked and worked on the scene, trying it every conceivable way, while Chuck patiently encouraged her. But it wasn’t going right and she knew it. Alison was doing a marvelous job as the model and it was a trial for Peggy to know that she was watching, criticizing, and comparing Peggy’s efforts with her own past success as Evelyn.
“I don’t think I can do it!” Peggy told Chuck miserably one day after rehearsal. “You should have given the part to Alison after all! I’m terrible.”
“You’ll be fine,” Chuck said quietly, but Peggy knew by the tone of his voice that Chuck had his doubts, too. She hadn’t made a real identification with the role yet, and it was drawing fearfully close to opening night. Worried and unhappy, Peggy wondered if she had any right to call herself an actress after all. If she couldn’t do this part that she had been so overjoyed to get, what hope was there?
She was tense and straining and finally even Chuck lost patience. “What’s the matter with you, Peggy?” he said sharply at rehearsal one day. “You’re missing this thing by a mile. You’re acting like an insipid little daisy that’s about to wilt on the stem! Evelyn isn’t like that—she’s crazy like a fox! She has power in her own strange way—”
“Could I say something, Chuck?” Alison interrupted, coming out from the wings where she’d been watching. “It might help Peggy. When I played the part I did it as though I were perfectly sane. Peggy’s trying to act crazy and it’s never believable that way.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Chuck admitted, “it’s a good suggestion, Peggy. Try the scene again with that in mind.”