Choosing a Moment

For our TPP we had to choose a significant moment from our year in IB theatre. It had to be a moment that changed how we viewed ourselves and perhaps even the ensemble. Initially I wanted to talk about my monologue in the showcase. It was an interesting experience for me because when I wrote the monologue, I didn't know that it was going to be included in the showcase. I thought (for some reason) that Jennifer was just interested in getting to know the students she would be working with the for the next eight weeks (or however many weeks it was). Being able to talk about something so personal, not only to me but also to my family, was a significant step in my role as a theatre student. I had so many doubts about performing the monologue because it brings attention to a part of my life that not a lot of people know, and it would be uncomfortable for my mum and stepdad. I wanted to talk about the process of becoming comfortable performing this monologue and how it changed me as a theatre student. However, Mr. Warren said that it was too symbolic. I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that but he said that I didn't make enough connections to what I had learned in theatre. He said it was more of a personal experience than one that theatre taught me. Therefore, I had to change my event. I decided to go with something more simple like "The Creation of an Ensemble". This monologue was more of a step-by-step process of becoming a theatre ensemble. More specifically, my role in and my take on the experience.

Depth has never been my strong suit academically. I had always struggled going above and beyond what is know as "superficial". Especially in my essay writing. I also struggled with this for this piece. My initial monologue about my monologue in the showcase was quite long and a lot more in depth than my one about becoming an ensemble. Perhaps this is because the first one was more of a personal fear that I had to overcome, while the latter was more general. I really want to work on my ability to go in depth. I am not exactly sure how to go about this. However, I have struggled being in depth in many of my classes and I have managed to fix the issue in all of them, with the exception of theatre. I suppose this is because theatre isn't an "acedemic" class. We aren't learning from textbooks or being assigned "busy work". The work we do in theatre is work that a lot of the time we - as students - "opt" to do. Success in theatre relies on the effort that one puts into it.