Having completed my last play at UWCSEA for my 3 year tenure at this school, I am incredibly grateful for the journey that I have had the pleasure of going on. We worked on this play for 6 months, beginning rehearsals in August and performing our final shows in January. I have spent the past 6 months at rehearsals 2 or 3 times a week with the same group of 20 people. Together we have built friendships and developed our skills immensely over such a long period of time. Getting to understand people’s artistic style and watching that grow, especially in the younger years, has been such a fulfilling experience. I had to work collaboratively with people to plan and initiate lunchtime rehearsals and practice scenes until we were 100% sure we had it down pat. The intense attention to detail when working on this play is what caused it to be a performance of which I am very proud. I can confidently say this performance is one of my best. Along with other people’s skill developing, mine have as well. I have had to persevere with going to rehearsals and being a good member of a team even in very difficult times for me personally or when I really didn’t feel optimistic or energetic enough to be doing the hard work that the play required. Snow in Midsummer tells a very important story that I am proud to have been telling as the character of TianYun.

Having been cast as one of the main characters of this years school play, I have a lot of responsibility to perform and contribute effectively to ensure that rehearsals and shows run smoothly. This is my last year at the school and this will be my last performance here as well. I have set some goals for myself in order to achieve a change in my habits so that they will better serve me at University, small improvements that will make my life easier and more manageable. I intend to be more responsible in the taking of notes in terms stage directions, blocking, characterisation and line edits. This will aid a commitment to the production and make me more invested in the character I’m playing.

Throughout the rehearsal process each cast member will have to be initiating leadership in creating blocking in scenes, moving with purpose and drive. We have had to create our own characterisation, and work on figuring out who we are meant to be portraying when we are outside of rehearsals. This will show perseverance in creating the best version of our character, truest to the version written on our scripts. Of course a crucial element of being in a play is committing to turning up to rehearsals every time we are needed, in time and prepared, having done any work given to us by our director. Theatre is my passion and this play is giving me an opportunity to further explore my creative concepts and method that works best for me, outside of regular school. Compared to previous productions I have a bigger role, and considering that I’m a senior in the school, I should try to guide younger members into developing an interest in theatre and proving to them how enjoyable it can be. Helping the younger students working on this production might mean they continue to sign up for theatre courses and productions in the future, even after our grade has left.

This year, our cast and crew have had to work through restrictions never before experienced in our expertise. Crucial parts of theatre have been stripped away and made redundant by the global pandemic that has changed our lives. Aspects of theatre such as intimacy and character relationships have consistently had to be adjusted to fit the rules. We have had to utilise all forms of creativity and innovation we had, to come up with ways to portray those things while still staying socially distanced. This has proven to be a long and frustrating process but finally, we have prevailed. Through an unmatched sense of teamwork and collaboration, we have created a piece that I am happy to say, I am incredibly proud of. This is a production I’ll never forget, because of the unique circumstances and small cast, we have grown into a small family that cares deeply for each other. This experience has taught me the versatility of theatre and how we have the ability to create meaning even without using conventional theatre devices. I believe now that with Antigone under our belts all of us will go on to become better, more open, and creative performers and will take this experience on with us for the rest of our time spent in this industry.