I have been waiting for two weeks to write this post, and I hope that you are still able to get some of my excitement out of this story.
The theatre department had auditions for a Greek tragedy called Medea. I thought this would be a great opportunity to see what goes on during an audition and how readings are done. When I first arrived, Mr. Tate, the director, explained the story of Medea. He explained what the stage would look like. The opening he described seemed interesting.
Medea screams.
The first thing he wanted to hear was each of the girls reading for Medea to scream.
This should be good.….I thought.
“Natalie, you’re first.”
I looked at him for a moment and thought about protesting as I was only there to observe. So I went on the deck, turned around, got on my knees, and screamed. Four times, actually. He had me read for Medea and didn’t even ask me to read for any of the other female parts.
During the second night of auditions, this is mostly what you heard.
“Who needs to read for Jason?” (Jason is Medea’s husband.) “Okay, Alex? Take page 12 and read with Natalie.”
“Natalie, take Medea on page 32 and read with Travis.”
“Chase, please read for Jason on page 12. Natalie, take Medea.”
It is getting pretty obvious that he has Medea picked out and I’m really not sure how I feel about that. I have no experience, and she has more than a few VERY long monologues. Then I realize that this is what I’ve always wanted, and though I’ve never been completely sure if I actually possessed the ability, it seems like I might. I was able to do during a simple reading, things I’ve always imagined being able to do. I was able to weep. I was able to read without stumbling.
Now that I’ve boasted let me mention a few things to give perspective. First, this is a God-given opportunity. It may sound cheese ball, but for me it is true. Second, this is a very small Baptist university with an even smaller theatre program. I am one of two theatre majors who are female. (I may be doing a double major now: Theatre, Multimedia Communications) I was allowed to declare Theatre as my major with zero previous experience. In most theatre programs there is no way that a first year would get a lead role.
Which means that this was the best school for me, because with no experience I would probably be required to take acting classes galore before I would even be allowed to audition.
I will be playing Medea. I am also in a production that will be on March 1-4 called The Book of Liz. It’s a cleaned up version. I am playing Sister Constance Butterworth, Cecily Cole and Doctor Ginley.
So from 7-10 for every evening until May, I will be in rehearsals. So far I’m loving it, but school and theatre has left room for nothing else. My theatre professors seem to admire Mike for being so generous with me. I’ve tried to explain that he could personally care less about theatre. Not to say that he can’t appreciate theatre, but he has about as much passion for theatre as I have for chemistry.
See how the man I love responds:
“Mike, it’s great how you’re letting Natalie do this. Theatre takes a huge commitment and a lot of time.”
“Well, if you knew what she’s done for me, you’d understand.”
