Theater
Last night was the last day that I will ever see my theater group...and I am so happy about that! Not because I disliked them in anyway, rather, because we are all exempt from the final exam so there is no need for us to be getting together anymore. Now, while I complained a great deal about this theater class, in particular this nonsense about writing and producing an original play, I was aggravated because of the amount of work that goes into such a process and I was really just looking forward to chilling out this semester. Plus, I was annoyed that I had to be a "good" group member and not totally slack. All in all I ended up with a great group of people. The producers were harsh and they demanded too much of my time. Some of our group members did not pull their own weight. But last night I realized that it was all worth it.Sometimes, you realize the benefit of your hard work once you are recognized for your accomplishments. And other times, like last night, you realize just how very far you have come in the course of a few weeks, you glimpse how much you have learned, you reflect on all the times that you have laughed with these people, you recognize how in watching other's productions you have become more critical and more appreciative, you notice the details, you see the play, you feel the emotions, you live in theater. And while it was a pain, in most respects, you begin to remember only the good times. And you become truly thankful that this was a part of your educational experience. Because instead of just watching theater, reading about theater, and taking notes on theater...we were living it...we were doing it...and it felt fabulous.
There have been very few times when I have been so out-of-my-element-uncomfortable and yet so entirely excited about where I was. I did not have a large role in yesterday's "world premier" of Going Home however, my nerves were shot. I was simply responsible for the lighting and the set (I obviously also had the assistance of two wonderful individuals whose names I still do not know because they were there so infrequently...however they did manage to show up for the production, help me get the set up/down in a timely fashion, and contributed to the overall success of the play). But it was so good to feel such a solidarity with this group of people. We had worked hard in previous weeks to pull this all together and we had complained together about what a pain this class was. But on the night of the performance, as we all showed up an hour early we each began to share how "worth it" this experience had been to us. We had all come to appreciate theater in a way that we did not know to be possible, previous to this experience. For crying out loud, we had 15 people to produce a 5 minute play with only 1 main actor (with 5 very minor supporting roles, two of which were simply voice overs). And it was hard work. Physical work. Mental work. A good balance. Before class began I was really struck by all of the good that had come from my being in this one class. From the NIU productions that I have attended, to the demos that I have drug poor Kim to, to the friendships that I have built, to the complex reactions of others. Honestly, I have gotten in several fights because of these plays. I have built friendships because of these plays. I have had any number of physical and emotional responses to what has happened during this class. And I am glad for all of it. It has helped to shape me in some small (and some not so small) ways. Before class even began last night I reevaluated my thinking and decided that I was very glad that I had not signed up for the traditional section where all they did was learn about theater. And I was fully confident that I had somehow made the right decision by registering for this section where we were allowed (forced even) to live theater. What an experience. What a joy.
So everything went phenomenally well. Our actors were fantastic! They gave the very best performance that I have ever seen from them. Our producers, directors, dramaturgs, stage crew, everyone pulled together beautifully to give a great performance. And the jury thought so too. We won for best overall performance, meaning that our entire group is exempt form the final. I am so proud to be a part of that. But even if we were not exempt, I would still have enjoyed this experience.
I love to learn and learn I did.
posted by Trisha @ 6:33 PM
