Last night I had a variation on a theme, recurrent nightmare.

I am in a show.  I arrive late.  My costumes are nowhere to be found.  I can’t remember how long before I have to go on, so I don’t know if I have time to go to where wardrobe is stored to get my costumes (if, indeed, they are there).

This is what I call a theater nightmare.

Sometimes, I have to go on and I realize I didn’t bring any makeup with me.

Sometimes, I cannot remember my lines and cannot find a script to save my soul.

Sometimes, I have a rehearsal and I realize I am either too far away to get there on time or I don’t know where I am supposed to be … etc.

You get the idea.

So, my question is –

Do people who are not in theater have these nightmares too?

The stress of these nightmares is heightened by the sense of duty to perform – for the audience and for your fellow cast members.

It is not just a – I can’t remember my speech or I forgot my pants – kind of thing.

It’s not really scary.

It’s stressful.

Really really stressful.

And it is a nightmare.

So do people who don’t do theater have this kind of nightmare or are us theater folk the only one’s “blessed” by this particular type of dream?