Aesthetic Expressions- Theatre 101

When I got my schedule the first semester of my freshman year, I was shocked and a bit nervous to see Theatre 101 on my schedule. I have always had a fear of public speaking, and while I did chorus in middle school and guitar concerts in high school, solo-performances have never been my strong suit. I started jumping to conclusions, imagining me having to perform in plays and recite monologues. The reality of the class was much different, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. I learned the history of theatre through engaging lectures and videos. I read a play called “Proof”, watched two movies, “Incident at Vichy” and “Shakespeare Behind Bars”, and saw Longwood’s productions of “Translations” and “No Exit”. I presented on the “Yale Repertory Theatre”, designed a theatre concept board, and helped write and performed in a children’s play at the end of the year. I even volunteered for a few in-class speaking activities related to acting. I started out the class believing that I would be humiliated every day acting, and was instead given the privilege of analyzing theatre, learning about all that goes into making a production, and appreciating the art and culture of it. I never would have chosen a theatre class on my own, and I am so glad that Longwood chose it for me or else I never would have had my mind opened to new aspects of theatre that I had never been exposed to. As my artifact for this class I included the script for the children’s play my group and I wrote, as performing it was my greatest accomplishment in the class. It was the first time I did anything acting-related without feeling nervous.

Script