‘Behind The Beautiful Forevers’ was the first production that I participated in. I wasn’t sure what to expect and in all honesty, underestimated the amount of time and effort needed for the production to reach its fullest potential. Being part of the production has really expanded my perspectives of theatre work, and being a theatre student myself, this has been crucial in my understanding of theatre.
Initially, when I first joined my goal was to get an understanding and feel of what working on a production is like and understanding my character. I thought it would be a simple, ‘do as you’re told’ by the director type of production. Since BTBF was my first, I thought this was a good start. However, as the production made some progression, I come to realise that being part of BTBF is much more than just acting and being in character. The beauty of this year’s grade 12 production is that it is a collective effort made by the entire cast to bring Annawadi to life. Although we were directed by Ms. Parr, it felt as though everyone had a say in what we could do and make the production more fruitful. Not only were we actors, but we came together to block and share ideas, and as a theatre student, I realise how important it is to really immerse yourself into the play you’re working with to bring out the best you can. Therefore, I believe I achieved LO1: Identifying own strengths and develop areas for personal growth. In order to grow as a theatre student I figured I needed to immerse myself fully into this play, and I feel as though I have developed my passion and understanding of theatre by being part of this production!
One of the biggest challenges I personally faced during the process is the amount of commitment and effort I needed to put in. As this was my first production, I felt as though my presence was important because of the intimate nature of the cast. It was a grade 12 only production with only 30+ people. However, as the production date got closer it was almost every day I would have to work on the play, be it through line runs outside of rehearsal or weekend rehearsals with the full cast. I was not used to this as I previously never worked in a production before and I felt like as we got closer to the opening night, I got more worn out and tired by the constant rehearsals and line runs.
“Is it even worth it?” I thought.
However, the end of every performance night felt very rewarding. Like all of our hard work was well paid off, all the effort, commitment and perserverance. I believe I have achieved LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in your CAS experiences through my experience in BTBF. The first (and last) ever production in my high school life in UWCSEA has truly been a great experience I would never trade anything else for and in the future, I could see myself working on more productions in university.
