This paper was the first paper i wrote in this class and thought the writing skills in it needed work when I first wrote it, I work hard on its revision and in the end earned a "B." The topic of the essay was of a personal nature in that we had to write on our territory, the place where we feel at home.
Enjoy!
When The Curtain Rises
“Act well your parts for there all the honor lies.” On that note actors flee behind the curtain and the house is open. As the audience fills the seats, nervousness and excitement boil. Behind the curtain, light is scarce. The shapes of the set linger in the darkness. Stretched voices of actors in mid-warm up can be heard from below stage. As an actor I am addicted to the anticipation, the thrill, and the sheer blissful freedom of the stage, but even more to the communal connections with fellow actors and the audience.
At an hour before the house opens the theatre is alive with anticipation. Actors sprint around setting up props and finding the missing piece of their costumes. Groups flock to the piano for a final warm-up, their voices echoing through the empty seats. The stage crew setting up is yelling back and forth between balcony and stage. The chaos continues below stage like an ant busily restocking for the coming winter. Watching from the sidelines would make bystanders feel unhelpful and need to find a job within the chaos.
I live for the thrill of pre-show excitement. The feeling of knowing that all the weeks of rehearsals and long nights are going to pay off is invigorating. The odd sense of thrill that even the weirdest costume brings is inspiring. I feel empowered even as I walk across my high school campus spruced up as a scarecrow to the auditorium for the evening’s performance of “The Wiz.” I’m spruced up in my rodeo clown attire. It amazes me how a pair of old-fashioned plaid golf shorts with knee-high black socks, suspenders, and a shirt of patches of odd fabric sown together, with a kid’s straw cowboy hat to top it off, grants such a thrilling feeling. I feel a bounce in my step as I feel the knee high socks hug my legs and the suspenders hike my pants up in an awkward but unusually comfortable position. I feel like a rodeo clown on a mission.
The anticipation and nervousness lingers until my first moment on stage replaces them with sheer blissful freedom. When the curtain rises to step into the character and tell his story. As I step on stage I take that final step through the door into the character’s world. The wave of freedom engulfs my body as I feel myself open, welcoming the character to tell his story through me. When the curtain rises so does the bars on my spirit’s cage. My soul, mind, and body are united, indulging in an empowering freedom. I am at the top of my game, enjoying the gifts received from the blissful freedom.
The blissful freedom combined with a unified state of soul, mind, and body makes me feel that I could solve any problem that arises. During a performance an actor forgot a line that was to cue the beginning of a new scene. I and my fellow leads had to continue conversation that would trigger the line from our fellow forgetful actor. It felt so great to know that we survived a scene that was going off track because we were aware enough to think on our toes. This heightened sense of awareness is just one of the many side affects the stage can cause.
The best side affect is the blissful freedom itself. For a short two hours the pressures of this world are lifted off my shoulders. I am freed from the stressful petty problems high school brings. Indeed, high school isn’t even a part of the world I enter when I walk on stage. I am no longer myself, but a vessel in which a character’s story is told. When I step on stage in my “rodeo clown” attire I become the Scarecrow and I seek to fulfill the needs of the Scarecrow. The great social pressures of being myself are peeled away, leaving the freedom of being someone else for a brief blink of an eye.
Along with the personal emotional adventures the stage brings a spectacular communal side. A community forms like a chemical bond, it is in the nature of the particles to be attracted to one another. People who might never normally communicate outside the theatre are brought together and strong friendships are sown. These friendships are the kind that will last beyond the graduation ceremony on the South Pasadena High School football field. In this community we affect each other, we learn from each in unspeakable, indescribable ways. We in becoming our characters to tell a story learn so much about ourselves and each other.
The audience should also find a home in the community. One of the most important reasons the theatre is to tell a story, but what good is a flock of usually dressed storytellers if they have no one to tell the story to? Just as the actors performing together bond and learn from each other, the audience must bond with the characters and learn form the actors. As the vastness of a seashore sunset inspires contentment so does the ability to touch an audience’s heart. If the heart of just one person in the audience is touched then the actors have accomplished their task of sharing a beautiful story with another soul.
The community young actors feel in the theatre at South Pasadena High School is evident in the traditions of pre-show preparation. I walk into the little theatre to find at least a dozen people already here; we wait until the cast assembles to hear from the director. Ms. Tucker speaks to us of the successes and failures of the previous evening’s performance and lays out our tasks for the coming performance. With great excitement and glee we are dismissed to slip into costumes, apply make-up, warm voices. I, the Scarecrow, walk with the Tinman, the Lion, and Dorothy to the auditorium.
“Act well your parts for there all the honor lies.” On that note actors flee behind the curtain and the house is open. As the audience fills the seats, nervousness and excitement boil. Behind the curtain, light is scarce. The shapes of the set linger in the darkness. Stretched voices of actors in mid-warm up can be heard from below stage. As an actor I am addicted to the anticipation, the thrill, and the sheer blissful freedom of the stage, but even more to the communal connections with fellow actors and the audience.
At an hour before the house opens the theatre is alive with anticipation. Actors sprint around setting up props and finding the missing piece of their costumes. Groups flock to the piano for a final warm-up, their voices echoing through the empty seats. The stage crew setting up is yelling back and forth between balcony and stage. The chaos continues below stage like an ant busily restocking for the coming winter. Watching from the sidelines would make bystanders feel unhelpful and need to find a job within the chaos.
I live for the thrill of pre-show excitement. The feeling of knowing that all the weeks of rehearsals and long nights are going to pay off is invigorating. The odd sense of thrill that even the weirdest costume brings is inspiring. I feel empowered even as I walk across my high school campus spruced up as a scarecrow to the auditorium for the evening’s performance of “The Wiz.” I’m spruced up in my rodeo clown attire. It amazes me how a pair of old-fashioned plaid golf shorts with knee-high black socks, suspenders, and a shirt of patches of odd fabric sown together, with a kid’s straw cowboy hat to top it off, grants such a thrilling feeling. I feel a bounce in my step as I feel the knee high socks hug my legs and the suspenders hike my pants up in an awkward but unusually comfortable position. I feel like a rodeo clown on a mission.
The anticipation and nervousness lingers until my first moment on stage replaces them with sheer blissful freedom. When the curtain rises to step into the character and tell his story. As I step on stage I take that final step through the door into the character’s world. The wave of freedom engulfs my body as I feel myself open, welcoming the character to tell his story through me. When the curtain rises so does the bars on my spirit’s cage. My soul, mind, and body are united, indulging in an empowering freedom. I am at the top of my game, enjoying the gifts received from the blissful freedom.
The blissful freedom combined with a unified state of soul, mind, and body makes me feel that I could solve any problem that arises. During a performance an actor forgot a line that was to cue the beginning of a new scene. I and my fellow leads had to continue conversation that would trigger the line from our fellow forgetful actor. It felt so great to know that we survived a scene that was going off track because we were aware enough to think on our toes. This heightened sense of awareness is just one of the many side affects the stage can cause.
The best side affect is the blissful freedom itself. For a short two hours the pressures of this world are lifted off my shoulders. I am freed from the stressful petty problems high school brings. Indeed, high school isn’t even a part of the world I enter when I walk on stage. I am no longer myself, but a vessel in which a character’s story is told. When I step on stage in my “rodeo clown” attire I become the Scarecrow and I seek to fulfill the needs of the Scarecrow. The great social pressures of being myself are peeled away, leaving the freedom of being someone else for a brief blink of an eye.
Along with the personal emotional adventures the stage brings a spectacular communal side. A community forms like a chemical bond, it is in the nature of the particles to be attracted to one another. People who might never normally communicate outside the theatre are brought together and strong friendships are sown. These friendships are the kind that will last beyond the graduation ceremony on the South Pasadena High School football field. In this community we affect each other, we learn from each in unspeakable, indescribable ways. We in becoming our characters to tell a story learn so much about ourselves and each other.
The audience should also find a home in the community. One of the most important reasons the theatre is to tell a story, but what good is a flock of usually dressed storytellers if they have no one to tell the story to? Just as the actors performing together bond and learn from each other, the audience must bond with the characters and learn form the actors. As the vastness of a seashore sunset inspires contentment so does the ability to touch an audience’s heart. If the heart of just one person in the audience is touched then the actors have accomplished their task of sharing a beautiful story with another soul.
The community young actors feel in the theatre at South Pasadena High School is evident in the traditions of pre-show preparation. I walk into the little theatre to find at least a dozen people already here; we wait until the cast assembles to hear from the director. Ms. Tucker speaks to us of the successes and failures of the previous evening’s performance and lays out our tasks for the coming performance. With great excitement and glee we are dismissed to slip into costumes, apply make-up, warm voices. I, the Scarecrow, walk with the Tinman, the Lion, and Dorothy to the auditorium.
An hour before the house is open to the eagerly waiting audience we gather holding hands in a large circle of smiles. It is my night as a senior to speak to the cast. “I want to thank each and every one of you standing here, for making this the best show of my high school career. This show is so very special to me and I am so thankful to be a part of it. I know we can make this the best performance yet. You all mean so much to me and I will miss you all next year,” I say holding back a tear. Following my little speech the director proclaims, “Act well your parts, for there all the honor lies.” And we know we are doing just that because when we feel the anticipation, the thrill, and the blissful freedom. We know when we reach the place where the honor lies because we touch the hearts of each other and the audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment