Theater Cubicles

Rehearsals

It was almost the end of class and we had finished the read through. Learning the lines wouldn't be a problem.

I approached Nolan, "Excuse me. I'm not that great at accents. Will we be getting some lessons on them?"

"Yes, freshman," then he added after an assessment of who I was, "A freshman who happens to be a klutz considering you bumped into me by my cubicle."

I flushed red once again and looked around to see if anyone had heard him. Again the memory of the most embarrassing moment of my life returned to my head.

"Oh...yeah...about that. I'm really really sorry. I just slipped and I don't know what happened and linoleum is slippery!"

Nolan smirked at me as if he had seen the mot amusing spectacle in his life. Well, second place to the first spectacle that was also performed by me.

"I can always give private lessons after class time. I recommend it, " he added making a dramatic effort to roll his eyes.

Private lesson? Urgh I couldn't even imagine private lessons with someone like Nolan. How would I bear such a person? He was like a box of egoistic explosives. Light a match to it and boom! Self-esteem clouds around him.

"My advice to you," he continued, "Never admit your weaknesses. Ever. Especially so early into the production, Gertrude."

Turning his back he made a run for the stairs as classes were next. Lip quivering, humiliation swept through me. Additionally, I felt fabulous for having been referred to as my character's name. Being sarcastic, of course. Well, one had to get used to difficult people in the world of acting. We're all somehow eccentric.

---

"I have graded your benchmark descriptive pieces," Miss Davis stated, "and I'm not happy."

My stomach fell to the lowest pits. My face turned red. I wanted to go home and hide. I never failed at writing. I hadn't failed before and wasn't going to start now, in this prestigious school especially. She called out the names as she wasn't acquainted with us yet,

"Juliette!"

She handed me a paper with a red encircled B+. I had basically failed. B is for bad. I might as well have gotten an F. However, as I casually glanced at the papers around me, I noticed that others had received similar or worse grades. 

"This is a benchmark for a reason. I will be teaching you all based on what you've shown me on this paper," Miss Davis said.

She went to sit on her desk, turned on the overhead projector, and asked, "Who is brave enough for their work to be displayed? Any volunteers? Come on! This is a learning opportunity."

In my advanced english classes back home I was always more advanced than my peers in writing. I always raised my hand to read in class or volunteered for my work to be read. This was because all I had received thus far were praise. However, I resolved that the only way I would learn the mistakes I had made in Miss Davis's eyes was to find them out. I raised my hand, walked up, and handed her the paper.

—-

Tears flooded my eyes after being publicly mortified for the second time in one day. I wasn't used to being wrong at what I do. I had rarely been critiqued in my previous environment I had been the best at what I was doing. I was being criticized as I found myself in an environment where everyone was as good as me. 

My work was apparently unsatisfactory because I had used too many descriptive words. How could I fail at writing by using big and elaborate words? Yet, I nodded my head solemnly at all of what Miss Davis had corrected. My paper was more red and white than white and graphite. 

She thanked me for volunteering and said that I could retrieve my paper. As I walked the walk of shame back to my desk I determined that the only way I could learn from any mistake I made was when I had been firmly told the truth about it. Otherwise, I would walk around blindly thinking I was the best at everything. 

Walking up the steps to my dorm room I realized that I had developed a sort of air when I entered this school. Back home I bragged all about it to my friends, nonchalantly of course. It wasn't over-confidence, more the flaunting of one's assets to an extent where it gets to one's head. I had to come out of it quickly. Everyone...everyone here at the Academy was extremely talented.

—-

The next morning, upon entering the small the theater, the groups of three characters were immediately told to go to their assigned directors for character work and memorization. I was separated from Germaine. I hinted my reluctancy of leaving her.

"Aww. I wish we were in the same group," I said genuinely.

She replied with a smile, "Well, you're Gertrude and I'm the Ghost. One must embody their character fully in theater."

"Right you are, Germaine," Nolan said and he nodded his head toward the direction we were supposed to go in.

"Let's get a move on, Gertrude. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your character name but I find your birth name quite cliche in the theater environment. Even though we're doing Shakespeare, i have a hard time calling someone Juliette. I mean I would've had the same reaction to the name Romeo," Nolan declared.

I did mind. In fact, it angered me that he would take it upon himself to judge my name. Yes, I did think it was cliche myself. Yet, I wasn't about to let it on to him.

"My father did name me after the character. But it's spelled differently, so..." I answered.

He looked at me like he didn't care.

"Simon. Jacob. Let's go. The lower left corner. The first three seats. Occupy them. Let's go," Nolan said hastily.

I didn't know what the hurry was. We had a whole two hours of class every day. Though, Nolan had an answer to everything.

"The reason why we don't like to waste even one minute of theater is because the worst thing we can do is have to rush it in the end and run out of time. Unpreparedness! Oh, it's the worse. Today we will be reading lines. Each of us will be getting the preliminary was we decide to express the lines. Chinese will come with run-throughs and blocking. Simon, let's go! Your typed up papers of character research please."

He retrieved the papers adding, "Why, you may ask, are you researching your characters? As actors and actresses you want to portray your character as realistically and non-stereotypically as possible. There is nothing worse than being those actors or actresses that just 'say' their lines. You must assume the character's mind-set, way of speaking, reactions... You must be the character. Easier said than done! You need to learn your lines by the end of September. On the first of October, no scripts onstage no calling out for lines."

I realized that Nolan really did not like to stop rambling! He was definitely the sort of person that liked to hear himself talk. Finally, Simon mustered up the courage to begin.

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