To Be or Not to Be: Eisenhower’s Drama Program

So, what’s it like being in a play for the first time? Is it nerve-racking? Is it exciting? Well, it’s a bit of both. You know that feeling as a kid, waking up early Christmas morning, hoping your parents were already awake so you could immediately tear into your gifts? It’s the same exact feeling waiting for Mr. Clark, the drama director, to send out the cast list. The audition process, however, is not nearly as daunting as you may think. You go on stage, read some lines, do your best to act them out, and if you’re doing the musical you may even sing. That’s not to say it's not embarrassing, or still nerve-racking if you have stage fright, but it doesn’t have nearly the anticipation factor as waiting to see the results. Now I had never acted before and certainly had not expected to be chosen to play a role in this year's small cast of 9, but the nervous anticipation still haunted my every waking moment, checking my phone every five minutes hoping the list had been sent out, and of course it never had. 

     If we fast-forward a week after the auditions to when I found out I had been cast, you would’ve seen that I was over the moon and very surprised. However, these feelings of excitement quickly turned to worry when I realized what my schedule would look like, work on weekends, play practice right after school every day but Friday, and other extracurriculars almost every evening. Doing the play is no light commitment, it takes time in and out of rehearsals, memorizing lines, getting into character, helping build the set, and so on. However, the worry of the looming time commitment all went away when it all started, it was a blast, getting to know the people on and off stage, getting to escape your reality for just a time and be a part of creating another world, and living somebody else's life through acting. It is truly a one-of-a-kind experience that I wouldn’t ever trade for just a little more free time. 

     Now, let's talk about acting. What is it actually like being on the stage? Well, it depends on how into character you want to get. In the beginning, it’s just reading lines with your friends on stage and going through the motions. Both are surprisingly fun, learning the storyline and figuring out who your character is and who the other characters are. Then, when we go off script, reciting lines from memory, things start to pick up, you can start experimenting, would my character do this? Or that? You are given a certain amount of creative freedom while receiving direction and comments from Mr. Clark. Then, after all of that, and after you finally figure out who your character is, you can really start to act, you become that character for the brief time you’re on stage. For me, this took a while. I was cast as Steve in the play, a wise-cracking, English-teaching, high school play-directing 30-year-old guy. At least, that’s what I thought he was, but I could never really get into that character. I felt like I was just reciting the lines and pretending to be someone. That’s when I realized that I had my character all wrong, I wasn’t a teacher, I was Doc's best friend, Doc being the main character in the play. That realization hit hard that I really should’ve been acting like a dad-joking best friend the whole time, and when I kept that in my mind, everything started falling into place, and it clicked. The lines came out smoothly, and interactions felt more natural, and I felt like I could be Steve, not just myself pretending to be Steve. 

     Overall this experience, though time-consuming, was an incredible one, I learned so much and gained new friendships and experiences I will never forget. It is a one-of-a-kind experience, and I’m very glad I did. To all of you wondering whether or not you should give it a shot and try out for something, for what it’s worth, I say do it. I can’t promise you’ll love it, but I can promise you’ll learn from it, and it will be an opportunity you’ll have been lucky and thankful to have for years to come. Who knows? For you, it might be meant, to be, or not to be.