I Was A Theatre Geek

I did my first play when I was in kindergarten and was part of a few Christmas productions in the second, forth and sixth grade. When I got to high school I did theatre every year until grade 11. It was a different experience and I wish I could say good things, but it was challenging and difficult. The drama teacher was not a pleasant person to work with and to be around. He had his favourites and those would be the people who would star in the main production. No matter how many times I would audition, I would never get a part. I was lighting and sound, stage manager, prop manager, pretty much any backstage job there was. I did everything, but be on stage. I was the only one that would never have a line in a play. I did one act plays for class, but I never had the chance to have a part in the big production. It was discouraging.

During my senior year of high school, the teacher was going to put on two one-act plays. I said that I wanted to direct one of the plays and the teacher had announced to the rest of the group that I was the director. He also mentioned that the seniors would be able to pick the parts they wanted since we were leaving. Since I was “director” of one of the plays, I wanted to have the one of the lead parts in the second play since I had never been casted in anything I auditioned for.

When I approached the teacher about being the lead in one of the plays, he told me he didn’t think I would be able to memorize that many lines, so of course I got a small part that only had half a page of dialogue.

I was willing to go back and forth between the plays as I was willing to put in the work, but as soon as the teacher left the room, the cast and crew began to re-assign the roles. I got bumped from director of the first play and the small part I was able to get in the second play became no part at all. At the end of the day, I was left with nothing. I ended up handing in my script and walked out of the theatre. It was in that moment my theatre days were over.

We did one act plays for class and on the day we were going to perform them for an audience, I would have been out of town on a family vacation. We were planning on rehearing leading up to when I was leaving, thinking we were going to perform it when I got back. I was going to take my script with me and practice my lines. When I told my teacher that, he told me that I had no chance, but to perform. That was day when he wanted them to be done. I told him the trip was planned for weeks. The dates were set long before I was in that particular class. So what does he do. He didn’t let my cast perform the play. All because I wasn’t going to be in class on the day he wanted. It wasn’t like I had a doctors appointment that I could reschedule, it was something that was made weeks, months in advance. I couldn’t change that. I felt bad for not letting the other two people in the cast perform. He could have assigned them jobs in the plays that were performing.

When we did Bye Bye Birdie, there were times when I wanted to leave in frustration because of lack of leadership and control. I was always promised a small part whenever one came up, but I was always passed over and that part was given to another person.

I haven’t had anything to do with the stage since then. I thought theatre was something I wanted to do and there are days where I miss it. I still do love theatre. I can’t pass up a good show, but do I have the desire to ever perform on stage again. The answer is no. My experience that I had in high school left a bitter taste in my mouth. Even with my theatre related tattoo, being on stage and performing in a play is something that I don’t have the desire to pursue. Over the years, my priorities within the theatre community have changed. I rather be behind the scenes, like writing, producing, directing. I wish I was able to say positive things about my experience. It was a teacher who wasn't meant to be in that environment. He didn't take your feelings and emotions in account and because of it, people were hurt in the process.