Student Blogger: Michael Lakind

To me, theater is the coolest thing in the entire world. Perhaps it’s a naive sentiment coming from a college student who does not directly depend on theater as my livelihood, but I have never felt burnt out to the point where I question how much I want to be in another show. There have been a handful of times that I selfishly wished I didn’t have rehearsal so I could have a night in and relax, but after having too many of those kinds of nights, I realized how essential theater is to my bodily function. 

Members of an audience all should know that buying a ticket means they have entered an unspoken agreement. They are bound by it to not only invest themselves as fully as possible in the event, but to allow others to do the same. Yet in my experience, there have been far too many incidents where the latter half ends up being violated and I cannot understand why for the life of me. 

One of the worst bad-faith criticisms you can find of anything is the idea that something was “too political” or “had an agenda” and is therefore not something you should engage with. It infuriates me to no end. In addition to being a dog whistle that feels more like a foghorn, it is contradictory to what makes art art.

The past year has been a constant learning experience for me as an artist. I suffered a back injury in November of 2023 that still causes me great pain every day. My time as a performer up until then was done with an able body. Accordingly, the tools for keeping pace with my world are never static and certainly aren’t one-size-fits-all. 

My first time being involved with a department-run show at UC San Diego would not come until recently, and so as an underclassman, my quarters were spent focused on pursuing student-led theater. To this day, my favorite rehearsal process and show run I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of was The Rocky Horror Show, directed by Danniel Ureña and Roselle Castro.

In July I spent a few days in New York City, and one morning, I had the chance to grab breakfast with a director I admire who graduated from UCSD. About midway through our conversation, she asked me a question so stunningly simple that for a few seconds I had no idea how to answer. “What do you want to do this year?”