The Show Must Go On

A while back, I mindlessly repeated the phrase, “the show must go on.” I can’t remember what I was reacting to. 

While I’ve said this likely hundreds of times in my life, a secondary thought emerged and I found myself wanting to dig into the history. Per Wikipedia (did you know phrases had Wikipedia pages? I did not.), the phrase “originated in the 19th century with circuses. If an animal got loose or a performer was injured, the ringmaster and the band tried to keep things going so that the crowd would not panic.”

Mostly, today people use it in reference to theatre. The show must go on, say, if the lead performer loses their voice. But often in theatre there are understudies. And if the lead is sick, the understudy can go on and then, sure the show can follow. 

But what about in your personal life? If things go terribly wrong, you could say “the show must go on” and keep moving. But unlike on the stage, you don’t have an understudy. And maybe sometimes, hopefully, if you’re lucky, you have supporting actors. You have people you can lean on. 

But sometimes there isn’t anyone else. And if there’s nobody else to support, then no the show does not need to go on. The show needs to stop.

The show needs to go back and rest and figure out what comes next. The show needs to recover and the show needs to heal because if there is no understudy there is no show. 

And you are the show.