Way back in the day, I was in a couple of junior high plays. I never had a large part, mind you. In fact, they were exceptionally small parts. But I had fun with it, and that's all that really matters. In high school, I tried out for a couple of plays but never got a part. I never knew if it was because I was a lousy actor or because I was involved in another activity that would force me to miss play rehearsal once a week. Large high school, not much flexibility or patience for exceptions, who knows. If you attended a larger high school, you understand. I did the typical church Christmas play each year and had quite a bit of experience speaking in front of others through church and through a local cable TV show I worked on, but I never gained much experience with acting.
Imagine my surprise to sign a contract for a teaching job right out of college and be asked to take on the role of director for the high school's plays as well. I somewhat hesitantly agreed and learned a lot during the past four years as a director, each play a little better than the one before it.
This spring I got my chance to be *in* a play -- community theater. I had a blast at rehearsals for the past 5 weeks, I picked up some good ideas and great techniques that I plan to use as a director in the future, and now the first of three performances is already over. Over and over I've had people surprised that I'd never done much acting before. Guess I'm good at fooling people.
But mostly I've enjoyed the chance to "be taught" this past month, to be "the learner" instead of "the teacher," to be told what to do as opposed to telling others what to do. The mission statement of many school districts relates to teaching students to become "lifelong learners." And I'm not just saying this to sound cliche, but I hope I never cease to be a lifelong learner.
The cast of Over the River and Through the Woods by Joe PietroPhoto is from the Times Citizen
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