"Theatre" by Miranda Torres-Alba

Theatre; the activity or profession of acting in, producing, directing, or writing plays. This is the definition that Google provides for “theatre”. However, although very technical and generic, theatre is so much more. And, let’s not get confused with “so much more”; do not assume that this is an overall positive and encouraging “so much more”. This “so much more” is a complex and grey “so much more”. Nevertheless, we do it because we like it. Maybe it’s a bit of a masochist lifestyle, yes, but isn’t every passion? Doesn’t everything we do take a bit of sacrifice? Don’t our hobbies take a bit of us so in return we can enjoy and embrace what they are?

I guess it all started when I was six (maybe seven?). My school, err, the secondary school my school lead to, really, was putting up a production of Dracula. I remember the big, grand, auditorium the school had rented downtown for us to see the show. Not see, but… see. I still remember my class walking in, velvet seats, that were too tall for the tips of my toes to sweep the floor when sitting, filled the great theater space. The ceiling was taller and more adorned than any ceiling I had ever seen. Since I had attended performances before, I was anxiously awaiting for the moment where the Earth slowed down and so did time, where every living thing fell quiet, where perhaps the only thing you could hear were small delicate steps that thought themselves gone; the moment where the lights went down and the room was black. Then, white. A white gleam burned in front of my eyes and shone across dozens of other faces. And, then, the first line. That’s what theatre is and that’s what theatre was to me; one moment of blood rushing and anxious feet and a second of inquiry where whatever appeared in front of you was whatever you wanted the most, right there and then.

But, the behind the scenes is not as glamorous as maybe Ryan Gosling may paint it to be (to everyone’s surprise, you can’t dance around space just by walking into a planetarium). Being backstage of a production is a one-of-a-kind experience; it’s ache, it’s bruises, it’s sore feet, it’s running, it’s one minute changes, it’s squinting in the dark. It’s 6 hour rehearsals and coming home at ten o’clock with matted hair and a pale face when you have two tests and a project due the next day. It’s seeing the same thirty people everyday and getting close and oddly intimate (see: changing backstage) with them, even if you had never met them before the past two months of scattered rehearsals. Theatre is like breathing in a fresh room after having ran for twenty minutes; it’s hard to breathe and the cool air doesn’t help because it feels sharp against your lungs, but you have to persevere through it because all in all you like it and you know that it’s good for you.

Theatre, however, whether I’m daydreaming about Chicago (the musical, not the band) or  I’m complaining about coming home at 10:12 PM on a Tuesday (see: last Tuesday), it will always be a part of me and will always have a place in  my heart. It can be tedious, yes, it can be unfair, yes, it can be exhausting, yes, but it’s a beautiful journey and product and effort from many people with different backgrounds and talents and… that’s a gorgeous, human thing. And, that might be my favorite part. Anyone and anybody can have their input and their own expression. Whether tech or acting, their individuality makes a show colorful and full of life. Theatre can be a pain in the ass, but there’s no business like show business.