Placing theatre centre stage
Sometimes you want to engage in something fun, enjoyable, different (in a good way), and something that isn’t ‘uni-related’. Well, I’ve got something for you… Join a theatre company. Or an ensemble company, or dance crew. Let’s say, just join a group that engages in all facets of fun, and what that may look like to you. For me, joining a theatre company is so vital. And the breakdown of my experiences being in one has been so cool.
It all centres around the joys of being in a theatre company. The joy of being with people who genuinely love to storytell, and simply speak, and be present in the room. The joy of being inspired by those around you, who equally love theatre, and the vibe that it stimulates in the room. The joy that you can epically fail and make mistakes, in the training room, and everyone will sympathise, and not judge. Ultimately, your peers have your back through the process. The joy of embodying another person/character, who is completely different from you, and enjoying their outlook on life. The joy of working with your fellow peers, and having so much fun in creating, devising, acting, and sharing.
Working in a theatre company allows you to learn new skills that can help when you enter new spaces of employment, and life. Being in a theatre company teaches you how to sympathise and humanise a situation, it teaches you how to work with different types of people with different types of personalities. It teaches you how to be actively present and focused on a task that you need to carry out, and teaches you the notion of ‘teamwork’.
Sometimes my life gets so busy, working multiple jobs, trying to be the best version of myself as a son, uncle, student, tutor, friend, and person. It gets so draining physically, emotionally, and mentally. But once I entered the theatre company, I simply can be authentically me, whether I’m at my full potential or when I am very tired, it’s all acceptable. It’s awesome to say that it allows me to just be ‘present’ in the space, and not to ‘perform’, but to simply just be.
Once you understand how free and safe a space can be for an individual, and how other human beings in that space can add that synergy… it becomes joyful. Joyful in authentic expression, joyful in communication with others, joyful in creative exploration, and joyful being a part of a theatre company.
If you’re interested in being a part of one, I think it’ll be great. Come with the right energy and be open to learning, be willing to be challenged and grow creatively. As that’s what I am currently doing.
Being a part of the very first Auckland Theatre Youth Company is awesome!! And it really exhibits you in the realm of the theatre arts.
Always check your social media platforms to see if there are any auditions to be a part of one.
You can expect to do what you love and what you’re good at, but also doing something either practical (more so warm ups before starting the session) or memorisation.
You can expect some good ol’ theatre games (shout out to all the past and present drama majors who will dig this lol), which is always a vibe!
You can expect some personality clashes, creativity overload, team work, some solo monologue work, some laughing, some thinking, some necessary pushes from the mentors to make you grow, and overall some renewed love for theatre.
It’s a family not connected by blood, but by love of the arts.
