Good grief.When I started this blog, I told myself that I would post every 1-2 weeks. Ha. Granted, that was before a. the reality of college life hit me, and b. I was cast in a play during my first semester. But now I realize I haven't posted since rehearsals had only just started. I apologize, although I confess I'm rather sorry for myself as well, because it means I have all the more to include in a single post!
Rehearsals went very well. Since my part was small (I doubled characters; I was Madame Lefroy in Act 1 and Alethea in Act 2) I had less lines to learn, which not only meant less stress, but more time to observe the older students in their roles. The cast was comprised of 3 seniors, a junior, a sophomore, and 2 freshman (including myself). They were all so good, and I learned so much from them. It was a great deal of firsts for me: my first college production, my first time wearing a snood, my first time switching dialects within a play (Irish in Act 1, British in Act 2); the first time that I've owned character shoes (an absolute necessity for college theater!), the first time I've gotten to experience Jeff's awesome directing and the wonderful collaboration of the Gordon Theater Department--the list goes on and on.
Now, I know you're going to want to know all the juicy details of behind-the-scenes catastrophes. *shrugging melodramatically* Other than 2 seperate injured knees in our mere 7-person cast, the time I knocked a drinking glass off of the seating unit and shattered it while re-entering for Act 2 during the dress rehearsal, a lost prop, getting makeup on the one piece of my costume that couldn't be washed, the freak October snowstorm that blew in on the final night of performances and screwed up everyone's travel plans, and the multiple times when I lost my balance while curtsying--quite embarrassing--it went off without a hitch! [And those aren't even all the incidents, but I want to spare myself and my fellow actors our reputations.] :)
In any case, nobody died, nobody got dramatically sick (although naturally I did have a runny nose that particular week), on the whole we all remembered our lines, and it got rave reviews, so I personally consider the production a success! Mom, Dad and Rachel all came up for the final performance, as well as my wonderful New Jersey relatives!--We had a blast celebrating Rachel's 14th birthday over 3 successive days, thanks to Crumbs Bakery cupcakes, presents, birthday cake baked in the Lewis Dorm kitchen, and the freak October snowstorm that made the roads too icy for church and caused us to instead drive only a short distance to a Dunkin Doughnuts and have a birthday breakfast, complete with decorations and a candle in her leftover cupcake from Crumbs.
And now back to the real world. Thankfully, I now have more time to focus on my studies, and my studies are kindly obliging by giving me greater amounts of work in order to fill that extra time. You've heard of post-traumatic stress disorder? Well, as of this moment, I've invented a condition called post-production lack-of-stress disorder, or PP LOS. This is the only way I can think to describe it: we've worked nonstop for 2 months to get this thing off the ground, we've been in rehearsal nearly every evening from 6:45 to 10pm while managing to not flunk out of school, we've just had 10 days of performances--and suddenly, BAM--it's over. No more rehearsals, no more productions, no more anything. Just a whole lot of time, which you haven't had for so long that it feels unnatural not to have somewhere you're supposed to be or something you're supposed to be doing.
Ah, the life of a theater major.
In addition, it's a bit of a downer, at least for me personally, because I've had this goal in sight and have been working towards it for so long, that all of a sudden, I don't have any goal other than to get through my work. I like to be productive as much as the next person, but I have to have something other than simply the day's end to work towards; something more fun to look forward to. Thinking in this fashion, it's no small wonder that I was depressed for some time afterward, especially since Mom, Dad and Rachel left at the end of that weekend. It's still just as hard to say goodbye to them as it was at the beginning.
I think I've gotten lonelier as the semester has progressed. At the beginning, you have your new routine to adjust to, new classes, new friends, new food, new independence--all the sheer newness keeps you busy. But after you've at least somewhat found your routine, it lets your mind wander to what you've left behind, at least, in my case.
Wow. And now, to move on to a less depressing topic.
I come home for Thanksgiving in less than 2 weeks, and I can't WAIT! I don't care if I have a Final Project due for Intro to Theater on Tuesday the 29th, the rough draft of my final TGC essay due the next day, and my second Philosophical Reflection essay due for The Examined Life that Saturday; I am going to enjoy my time with my beloved family!!! I fully intend to keep up my personal tradition of making the pumpkin pie while watching the Macy's parade Thanksgiving morning.
I miss you. Yes, you--you who are currently reading this blog. I miss all of you. To quote the outrageous cliche, "There's no place like home!"--because there isn't.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to see all of you in person over Thanksgiving, but please know that I love you all. May the Lord bless you and keep you (Numbers 6:24-26).
Blessings,
Sarah
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