The Fine Line Between the Imaginative and the Insane

Image courtesy of Lancaster Schools

Welcome to the world of THEE-AH-TAH. Ok Natalie, no need to be overdramatic. Theatre, an art form, form of expression, and expression of imagination. It can also be the fine line between the imaginative and the insane.

Actors are always just a touch crazy. Isn't everyone though? We just choose to show it a little bit more.....okay, a lot more! The stage is a way to slip out of your skin and into someone else's. I'm here to explain just why I love acting so very much.

First of all, character. Everyone has insecurities and everyone has flaws that only they see. I'm no different. Yet when I'm a character, I don't have to be me. I know it sounds a little weird right now, but give me a second. When you are developing a new character, YOU get to create them. YOU get to write their backstory, YOU get to shape their personality, and YOU get to shape them. You have no choice in who you are, but you do have a choice in who your character is. You just don't have to be you for a little while, and that's fun.

Image courtesy of Scholastic

Secondly, expression. In the real world, people expect you to conform to certain social standards. Let me just say it, THAT STINKS. If you do something out of the ordinary in life, you are classified as weird. If you start experimenting with a script or a character on the stage though, you can really do whatever. If you skip on stage instead of walk, that's innovative. If you make your lines very overdramatic, you are creative. There's just this sense that you can pop the bubble and explore without people judging what you do.

Theatre is something you use to take yourself away from your reality and put yourself into someone else's life. It's a cool and exciting way to recognize the normal, the status quo, and then break it.