My love for acting started when I was eight years old. I was in the Stargazer’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was only an Oompa Loompa, but I loved it. I don’t know why or how. I just know that I came back the next year for Guys and Dolls, Jr. And the next year, and the next. This upcoming summer will be ten years since my first play (actually, musical, but I’ve been in both). It’s very surreal to think about. I suppose for a seventeen-year old, I’ve had a rather impressive career so far.
While my roles have only been on local stages, I still have done stuff that lots of actors never do. I’ve originated a role. This past summer, the Delphi Opera House debuted a play by a Delphi graduate, and I played Layla. Since this was the first performance ever, when the play is published, my name will be in the published script as the original actress. (How exciting!) But it’s more than just acting on the stage. As I’ve grown up, I’ve become more confident. I definitely have my background in theatre to thank for that. I’ve made friends that I never thought I would have made, and I’ve played some rather outrageous parts (an earthworm, a pregnant teen, a Cockney maid who’s a little clueless). It’s been an experience. The one thing that acting has taught me is to be yourself. When you go on stage, you leave it all out there. You hold nothing back. You can’t, otherwise it’s not believable. You have to be your character, and once the play is over, you carry a little bit of that character with you. Sure, for months afterward you make references to the play, you still have your inside jokes, your cast games of tag, but mostly, it’s your character that will stick with you. Being a different person for so long eventually rubs off on you after all. And what’s more, I know that I am confident. I’m sarcastic and witty, sweet and charming, Southern, English, a sheep, a bird girl, and a lost girl. Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage.” I felt that this quote was appropriate, not only because everyone acts (no one is who they say they are), but because everywhere you go, it’s a new set, a new adventure. And you have to fit yourself to your surroundings, but you also have to make your surroundings fit to you. You have to be the ruler of your own fate, the director of your own show. I’ve learned that. I’ve made the world my stage, and I’m not going to let that get away from me. I hope you do too. Leave a Reply. |
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Musical fanatic Lover of books and all things cake-related Archives
April 2018
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