The summer going into my junior year of high school I was given the opportunity to attend West Virginia's Governor's School for the Arts. I spent three weeks at West Virginia Wesleyan while I majored in acting. We spent four hours a day in our major and then we're able to participate in interdisciplinary classes such as creative writing, studio art, digital art, instrumental music etc. While in my acting classes I learned a lot about theater and I learned a lot about theater programs in my state. While talking to kids from schools all sound West Virginia, I realized that I was taking my opportunities for granted. At my school we have two theaters: the first is a great facility that seats just about 400 people,the other is a multi-million dollar building with state of the art technology. I am fortunate enough to not only perform there, but to have acting class there everyday. I was ashamed to tell the kids who were telling me things like, "my theater was condemned last year and we now have to perform our shows in a local church. " They talked about driving hours just to participate in community theater while I sat there as privileged as I could be. That summer I learned a lot about theater and about art, but what I learned more than anything else was how important theater is. A lot of people don't think as acting being a conventional career or even a good hobby. There are a lot of stereotypes put on people on the theater business, but what a lot of people don't realize is that the theater business is what we all idealize. Movie starts are our pop culture and who we strive to be like. They were all once theater geeks in high school too.
Aside from that I think theater is important because it makes us all have a better understanding of someone else's life. Even in therapy exercises of "acting out" another persons behavior has been used to help us grasp what it's like to be them and the challenges that they might be going through. I think that theater has personally helped me do this. I've played many different characters from a 60's house wife to a deaf girl after she had just been raped at the age of 13. Some characters are easier to play than others it that doesn't mean that I don't go through just as much emotional contemplation for them. Acting opens my eyes to bigger world issues, like women's rights , police brutality, abortion, and minority's struggles. I see people playing these characters, and while it's not actually real, it helps me remember that, that is someone's life. All characters were inspired by someone and when we play them we must feel empathetic. I do a lot of method acting with the characters that I play, and for those who aren't familiar with the term, method acting is a theory of
Konstantin Stanislavski where you literally become your character, not only on stage but off stage as well. It is an interesting and sometimes dangerous way to think, but it helps me internalize my character so much.
Stanislavski's theory hopefully pays off for me on stage, but I like what it does off stage as well. It gives me an outlet, a way to be someone else and really step into the shoes of another person. I said earlier that acting is a way to have an open mind because you can put yourself in other people's situations, but it's also a lot of fun. I love becoming these different characters even if it's just for a little bit. It's like Halloween all the time, i eve have to be just myself, and the more characters i become, the more I grow as a person. It's like having an ever changing soul. I honestly hope that i can act forever, and that it will help me stay young at heart, open in the mind, and wise in the soul.
Opening ourselves up to different situations is the only what I know how to be empathetic and compassionate people, and without empathy and compassion, we as a human race are nothing. I now know why those kids continued to act while their theaters were condemned, or when they had to take road trips just to get to a stage. It's because they allow themselves to morph into someone else. It's therapeutic, fun, and eye opening. These kids like feeling the emotion that comes along with living someone else life. Some people may say it's silly, but I truly believe that acting and theater holds so much importance in our lives. Even if you have terrible stage fright or don't have a knack for remembering lines, I think it's just as easy to watch theater, go support live actors in your community or just watch a movie. Imagine what it would be like that be someone else for a day. You're actually in luck, if you'd like to practice this method, come to the JB Chambers Performing Arts Center on November 11th and 12th and 7PM or the 13th at 3PM to see "Up the Down Staircase"!
