It was such an amazing experience to work on the recent production of Midsummer Night's Dream out in Sonoma at the historic Buena Vista Winery. Playing the role of Helena, I had an absolute blast with how physically involved our show became, pushing me out of my comfort zone and helping me continue to grow into a better performer. With this being my first live acting experience since 2020, it was a welcome, encouraging environment to experiment and just have a lot of fun.
A hole I often find myself falling into when performing is being too in my head about the whole thing: what intention am I going forward with for this scene? What works comedically for this beat, or the other? How can things be changed to make it even better the next time around? As our show went on, I found myself relaxing and growing more comfortable, something I definitely needed to relearn since being rusty these past few years of coffee-slinging and being a dedicated plant mom.
Becoming a professional in this space is exhausting, I have to say. It's challenging me in ways I never could have predicted. Juggling auditions and callbacks DURING a run of a show? I think this is the thing that I found the most eye-opening.
While in school, auditions tend to come in batches. Audition for a bunch of productions at the top of or mid-semester, deal with callbacks and such, get cast and begin rehearsing. In a non-academic environment, this looks VERY different, with all these events overlapping one another, squeezing in as many things as you can in a day to try and guarantee both a good performance later in the day, but also the potential to perform again in a month or so. And of course, as all things go, personal problems pile up as soon as your schedule is booked. I felt pulled in so many directions at once, my mind felt like pancake batter, thoughts oozing out my ears at every turn of my head, not runny perhaps, but in thick, coagulated lumps.
It was only once I stepped in the room, be it the green room for Midsummer or rehearsal space for auditions, that I could take a breath. One thing at a time, I would reassure myself. Right now, it's just this.
Midsummer, which ran for the first two weeks of August, is now over. Some personal things are starting to finally calm down. And, thankfully, as we closed Midsummer, I got news of being cast in a new show. As one show closes, another opens. And I cannot not wait to work on this new role, yet another one I never dreamed of playing! I feel stronger, more flexible.
And more in love with theatre than ever.
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