Acting Out

I have returned from my week of theatre immersion! Late on Friday evening I came home from the Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. It was held at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is in Indiana, PA. The town of Indiana is the Christmas Tree Capital of the World and the hometown of actor James Stewart.

The week was extremely tiring; I actually drank way too much caffeine and was feeling the effects of dehydration on the way home (I almost never can seem to take good care of myself on trips). The festival, though packed with some amazing content of workshops, plays, and speakers, was organized in such a way that unless you were participating in one of the competitions (for acting, directing, design, or stage managing) it was hard to keep in a constant flow of things to do. The shuttle service to and from our hotel was highly inadequate, and all the workshops and shows happened at the same time, so you had to pick just one thing to do and then experience two hours of dead time. As a result, my friends and I spent a lot of time exploring the campus and the town, doing non-festival related things.

The only highlights related to the festival that stick out are: sitting in on a round table discussion led by the Broadway stage manager of "Wicked", and acting out a scene from "Buried Child" in a workshop. I got tips from the teacher/director on how to produce that show (this is the play Barnstormers will be putting on in the spring). Being at the fest made me realize how much I have to learn about theatre.

The group that came from our school is not the most close-knit, and that took its toll on the trip. Our actor that was participating in the Irene Ryan competition did not make it to the semi-finals, but he performed very well in the scene our school had been invited to put on in a showcase. The trip brought me a lot closer to Mara, who I roomed and spent most of my exploring time with.

I was very grateful to get home and sleep. I'm so ready to be done with traveling, but next weekend Mom and I are going to spend a night with Aunt Lori up in PA. After that, I hope that's truly it for going away from home for awhile. :-p And then a week later, spring semester starts...