Student Blog: Writing To Change

I had always enjoyed writing. I have written countless miniature stories and plays since I was nine years old. Naturally, when I got to college, I had figured maybe writing was something I wanted to do, but I decided against it. I am lucky enough that my theatre had the opportunity for students to write and direct their own one-act play. After acting in this show my freshman year, I knew I wanted to write one for my sophomore year. So, I got to work and took a screenwriting class in the spring of my freshman year to help me. With the assistance of my teacher, I was pushed into actually submitting my script to be put on stage, and I was fortunate enough to be picked.

My play was called Paying The Price and it was a story about a really awful guy who died and was sent to hell. In hell, he had to meet the seven deadly sins who had to decide which sinful circle he ended up in, but the sins do not work well together. I even gave the sins different names to refer to instead of just Greed, Lust, etc., and the names depended on the gender of the actor playing them. My bad guy was Alex, Wrath was Rachel, Ethan was Envy, George was Greed, Gunner was Gluttony, Sam was Sloth, Lillian was Lust, Prim was Pride, and Lou was Lucifer. I was able to cast fellow students as my characters, and my cast did a fantastic job putting the show on that night.

It is my proudest moment in theatre so far. Having to direct this show I knew would be a big deal, I was proving to myself and my family that I could really do this. I told my nine-person cast at the first rehearsal that despite being friends with some of them, as their director, I would not be their friend and I expected them to treat me with the same respect as any other director. They agreed, and we got to work. With 90 minute long rehearsals once a week, and a lot of repetition and guidance, my cast was finally able to put the show on. We were the last play out of eight other shows.

I remember the fear and anxiety knowing my family and my childhood best friend were all in the audience, as well as everyone who had been a part of the theatre group so far. I stood on stage, introduced myself and the brief synopsis of my show, and sat down.

Being the last show of the night, I felt a lot of the pressure was on me to be as memorable as possible. My cast did amazingly and the show went so well that I had people coming up to me after the show to tell me how well the show had gone. Being able to go through the whole process of writing, directing, then rehearsing, and finally putting on the show was an experience that I will never forget. It kept me organized on my schedule and had me reaching out to my cast to make sure they were on top of their game. The show molded me into a leader who was able to take charge when necessary and lead confidently and kindly. I planned on writing again and was, fortunately, able to write and direct two other shows virtually my junior year. Now, with my senior year on the horizon, I am hoping to put on a final show in person, and maybe this time, I will revive my seven deadly sins for one last spotlight.