The Strangest Thing I've Done at Work

My actual job is to be an Opto-Mechanical Engineer. I enjoy it a lot, and I get plenty of satisfaction out of seeing my designs turn into real objects and function how they are supposed to. The past two months at work have been a bit strange, because I got to do something completely outside of my regular job description.

The Security Department put on a play this year for the first time. I volunteered to direct. We just finished up on Monday, after playing to THREE packed houses in the company auditorium. This was no skit - it was a 45 minute, original, one-act play. A lady in the Security Department wrote it, to help increase awareness of the Counterintelligence Threat. As far as we know, this is a first for our location, our division, our sector, and possibly for the whole company. It has been recorded to turn into a DVD to share with other locations.

Being a director is only about 30% telling actors what to do on stage. The other 70% is the rest of the stuff that is needed to get a show to happen. This includes: rehearsal scheduling (in Outlook - all booked in conference rooms until the final week), cast changes (someone drops out, gotta find someone else), facilities coordination (lights, faking a backstage), staging coordination (thankfully I could delegate props, costumes, and sets to other volunteers), publicity (the graphics department came up with an amazing poster for us), script changes, crisis management, cast parties, announcements, sound recording, and a hundred other little details. But, I really loved it. And, since I got a charge number to use, this is the first time I've been paid to do something theater-related.

The response from co-workers has been amazing. We just had a year-end party for all of Engineering and Manufacturing, and I was approached by so many people who wanted to congratulate me on how the play went. This includes people I didn't know beforehand - they recognize me now because of the play. It was certainly the strangest thing I've done at work, but also one of the most rewarding.