BWW Blog: Cheyenne Dalton - How Theatre Helped Me Remodel a House

I just remodeled a house. I know what you're thinking: this article belongs on some HGTV forum about flipping houses with your family. But hear me out.

I just remodeled a house. The walls were covered in nicotine; the carpet was stained beyond description. I have never seen linoleum coated in so much dirt. Cabinets in the kitchen were missing knobs and handles, and light bulbs were missing or broken. One bathroom's plumbing had completely rotted and lay in pieces under the house, not to mention both bathroom floors had to be taken up completely. Wallpaper hung in strips, glue tacked to the walls. I don't think we were expecting this job to be so difficult.

It took us three weeks to transform this house from a mess into proper living conditions. We spent every weeknight working, and every Saturday, and every Sunday. We sweat, bled, sneezed, inhaled fumes, and ruined clothing with paint, glue, dirt, and mystery stains. It was in the blistering heat of an Alabama summer that we cut lumber, hauled appliances out, and remodeled a house. It was almost all we could do to continue our everyday lives.

I probably would have been smacked in the face with working all night and all weekend coupled with my day-to-day tasks had it not been for the things I have learned being a technical theatre student. I was used to the sweat, the heavy lifting, the painting, the problem solving, the carpentry, and most of all, the long hours. I was never slowed down by not knowing how to use a tool, and I even learned a few transferable skills.

A section of the Auburn University Creed is "I believe in work, hard work." Theatre has taught me many things, but I think the most important skill I've learned is how to be a hard worker. Regardless of the job that I'm given during a show, a practicum, a strike, (or during the remodeling of a house!) I've learned to give it my best and be prepared to learn new things at every turn. To see a piece of theatre at the end of its journey and to have been there to help shape it means the world to me. Just as I get joy from seeing a show come together with life and laughter, I've loved to see this little dirty house turn into something beautiful. "The point of theatre is transformation: to make an extraordinary event out of ordinary material right in front of an audience's eyes." - Lee Hall