This year I made the huge decision to switch school from Lake Norman Charter to my home public school Hough High School. I had gone to sit in on one of Hough’s theatre classes and absolutely fell in love. The school offered classes like, show choir, theatre, and AP music theory (all of which I am taking this year). One of the major things that pushed me into making this decision was the fact that Hough’s theatre department did a full-length fall play and participated in the Blumey Awards in the spring. When it came time for Romeo and Juliet auditions, I went in expecting for the odds to be against me. It was my first audition with Hough and I was still forming relationships with the creative team at the school. Also, I had never done a Shakespeare play in my life so I figured that this would be an amazing experience for me. I was super stoked to see that I was cast in the show and couldn’t wait for rehearsals to start.
At the beginning of the rehearsal process, our theatre teacher explained how we were going to rehearse the beats of the play. We learned about the technique called “feeding-in”. This was when the actors playing characters in the scene each had another person standing behind them with a script whispering the lines into their ear instead of the actors reading the line themselves. This allowed the actors to interpret the lines in a split second and rely on their natural instincts when the first hear the line. It also gave the actors more freedom to move throughout the scene and take up the entire stage. Without the script in their hands, the actors could make more physical connections with the other actors on stage.
I went to most the rehearsals, even if I wasn’t called specifically. I figured that “feeding-in” was an important skill to have for the future and enjoyed spending time and developing new friendships with my fellow actors. Before coming to Hough, I knew some of the Hough theatre kids from previous shows at community theatre settings, but since doing a straight play is not my specialty, I learned more about my peer’s skill set and what I could learn from them. The rehearsal process was a little cramped since we decided to move the shows up one week and since many of them were cancelled due to “hurricanes”. Despite these challenges, Romeo and Juliet was a success and I had a blast being in Juliet’s Posse.
Overall, I loved being a part of the cast and had a wonderful first theatre experience at Hough. I am so glad that I have made these new relationships with friends that I know will be long-lasting. I cannot wait for Fiddler On The Roof auditions in the spring! Currently, I am packing for the Shakespeare trip that the cast of Romeo and Juliet is taking together. We will being leaving at 12:00 am on a bus to Lenox Mass, to watch a whole lot of Shakespeare plays at a historic theatre and staying in the dorms on the site. I am extremely excited and ready to go spend more time with my new family! “On lusty gentlemen!”- William Shakespeare