Student Blog: Here's To 'Firsts'

I experienced my Boston College Theater Department Mainstage Debut in the middle of this pandemic. One month ago, I performed as Alice in Maggie Kearnan's IDK What This Is, as a Zoom production. Our cast and creative team worked tirelessly for us to have safe, distanced, and masked in person rehearsals in preparation for this show. This is one of my biggest college 'firsts', and not even the pandemic was able to stand in the way.

At my college, the mainstage productions come with a large concentrated time commitment. I had to navigate my school work and other responsibilities while devoting hours daily to this show. I learned so much about time management as well as the necessity of sleep. Through immense organization and preparation, I was able to balance my time between schoolwork and the play.

What I enjoyed about IDK What This Is, was how the university broke the barriers of Zoom. The creative team learned how to mold Zoom to create more of a live movie experience in terms of camera angles and actor presentations. The show lent itself to actors' images being superimposed on one another as well as many moments that were aided with music. Overall, the production broke away from the typical Zoom presentation style for a refreshing use of the platform that allowed the story to be told in the best way.

When most 'firsts' are due to COVID, it was nice to have a 'first' that happened despite COVID. I was reminded that life can continue and adapt to these times, and nothing can take these experiences away from me - no matter how different they might be than normal. One moment that I enjoyed was what the department refers to as "coming out". After the opening night performance, all debut actors walked through the front of the house while the team cheered for us as loud as they could. Normally, this would be something that all audience members in the lobby would take part in to welcome the newcomers. Even though it was just our small team due to no live audience, it still felt amazing. It was so meaningful to have the people who had supported me throughout the entire process cheer at the top of their lungs to recognize my introduction to the theater department.

We all performed by Zooming from the mainstage in enclosed cubicles. It was an interesting experience being isolated from any sort of audience as well as my fellow cast members. We found ways to connect with our cast on the screen throughout the show and delivered unforgettable performances. It was an unusual experience ending a heavy show and leaving our cubicles to find no audience in the seats, but we found a deeper community with the entire creative team. What is most important is the fact that in the face of the pandemic we still made meaningful theater in a safe way. It would be so easy for the theater department to refuse to hold any sort of artistic expression this year in light of the circumstances, but they all put so much time and energy into finding ways for us to perform safely.

Overall, I will never forget my mainstage debut. As someone who had most of their final moments of high school taken by the pandemic, it was empowering to have a new experience during these times. During a year that has made me feel secluded and isolated at times, it was nice to find a sense of community and true support in this moment. I am so proud of everyone's work with this performance, and I cannot wait to continue working with others in the theater department at Boston College and beyond.

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