Just what you need, another blog to read. Why should you read this one, you may be asking yourself? Well, I know but I'm not telling. If you want to figure that out, you can keep reading until an answer comes to you.
In the meantime, I wanted to talk about something I've had on my mind lately...theatre (big surprise, right?) I want to talk about how important it is, even if you aren't a major and even if you don't really "like" it. I don't want to preach, that's not my job. My job is to share my passion with you and try to help you see what I see. I became a Theatre major because I couldn't shake the feeling that this was where God wanted me. At first it was just because I loved it and thought it was fun...but then I went deeper and started grad school. People, it's work. Hard, exhausting, emotional work. (Now I'm not comparing it to any other jobs or passions. I'm just saying that it is hard in itself.) I began questioning why I was doing this--I was exhausted and emotionally drained. But then people or play rehearsals would come into my life and remind me of something important--theatre is not about me, it's about a bigger picture.
People outside the theatre world (and some in it) believe that it is for divas to thrive and show off. But that is not true theatre. It is meant to be a self-sacrificial, all-about-others gift. True theatre means not thinking more of yourself than the other actors on stage. No one likes a showboat. It's about creating a work of art that is bigger than you--a work that can actually touch the lives of audience members who you may never have been able to reach outside of that show.
Theatre is emotionally draining. To be a truly good artist, you must be able to show the emotional state of your character. You must make an audience empathize with you. (This is easier with some audience members more than others...) It means getting outside of yourself and picturing the world bigger than what you see. If all you can imagine is your own way of feeling or living, you will never be a truly good artist. Stepping into someone else's shoes and figuring out how they work is difficult. And to do that every performance and throughout the (sometimes) months long rehearsal process is grueling. People, please try to see that being a theatre artist is hard. It takes years of learning and lifetimes of growth. (I grant you, many actors don't treat the role they have with the gravitas it deserves, but that means they are not doing their job, not that acting is easy.)
And very recently, I've learned first hand how difficult playwriting is. I'm not talking about the form, structure, plot, and characters that you have to create, though that is exhausting in itself. I'm speaking to the emotional masks that have to be torn off. To write a convincing play, you have to be honest with yourself or else the audience (who is always smarter than we give them credit for) will know they are being lied to. Writing this play for thesis was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Kaitlyn (the author of the other one act play for thesis) and I spent months writing play after play after play in hopes that our skills would be refined enough to create something truly worth spending months of our lives producing and bringing to audiences. She and I learned so much about ourselves that I would never have seen without this experience. We have cried together over revelations of our true nature, we have laughed at the crazy stories our mind can create, we have said goodbye to many dear parts of our script that didn't make the final cuts. (I know I can't say from experience, but these plays are like our babies and getting rid of parts of them was agonizing--but for the better, hopefully.)
I know I've rambled on and that most people have stopped reading by now. To those of you who have stuck around, thank you. My passion may not be your passion, but we have to see the worth in each others gifts or else we are not truly loving one another. And I haven't even scratched the surface of what being a theatre artist is really about. (If you want the exhaustive list, please go to graduate school lol. #shamelessplug)
I say all of the above to make a point. The four thesis students have poured months (almost a year) of our lives into this show coming in March. We have literally laughed, cried, and generally "emotioned" over this. We have assembled a cast, we are currently in rehearsals, and Kaitlyn and I have said goodbye to pieces of the scripts. Tickets are on sale right now...and they are only $8. Do you know how cheap that is? Anywhere else, they'd laugh in your face if you asked for a ticket that cheap--especially for two plays! (That's $4 per play.) $8 is a pizza from Little Caesars, a coffee from Starbucks, three boxes of Ramen. I know it's a sacrifice to have one less coffee. (Trust me!) But please consider coming and supporting our months of hard work on something we're very passionate about.
Okay, my rant is over. Again, thanks for sticking around!
If you are interested, our website is equinoxtheatregroup.weebly.com :)
