Student Blogger: Sydney Emerson - Page 2

When purity culture devotees suggest that the author must spoon-feed the moral status of every single character to the audience, they undermine both the intelligence of the viewers as well as the skill of the author.

A future in the arts is precarious. It involves overwhelming self-motivation and internal strength. It means that you must constantly advocate for yourself. It means being okay with the fact that you may not succeed right off the bat—and if you’re a worrier like me, existing in this world can sometimes feel like running a marathon with a blindfold on.

This is a plea to all of the writers out there-the introverted, hiding-behind-a-laptop, don't-look-at-me writers. Do improv. Join a troupe. Do it with your friends. Do it by yourself. (Robin Williams did!) There's the obvious benefit that everybody points to with improv-an increased ability to think and speak on the fly, growing more comfortable with public speaking.

I’ve been burnt out before (and I’m sure I’ll be burnt out again) but this time feels different. This time is sluggish, self-aware, and brutal. This time is stealing a nap wherever I can find one. This time is wearing the same outfit two days in a row. This time is writing a too-long blog post to work through my own thoughts. (Welcome!)

I never thought I would miss the bottom halves of my friends’ faces as much as I have this past year. And yet, there isn’t a button we can push or a switch we can flip to send it all back.

They make this our entire identity. All you hear in high school is how each class you take will look on your college application; how every award and activity you do will look on a resume. We put ourselves onto these pieces of paper, distill our very beings into easy-to-read bullet points, and then send them out into the world for judgment. For acceptance or rejection, quite literally.

I had never laid witness (let alone been a part of) a doomed show. It felt like being in the band on the Titanic. We had already hit the iceberg, the ship was about to split in two, and all we could do now was play our song like our lives depended on it. Watch our magnificent ship for as long as we could before it was submerged.

With all of this time in a room by myself, I’ve turned to the old  standby, dream castings, to occupy my time. And let me tell you—I would pay good  money to see any of these shows. So, without further ado, here are just a few of the  castings I’ve dreamt up during quarantine.

It wasn’t until I started taking a course in puppetry for my college’s January  term, where I began learning about more esoteric methods and philosophies of  puppetry, that I was able to fully appreciate the amount of puppetry that happened  nightly in Ferguson’s studio.

So, what’s it like being a theatre fan far away from most theatre? We take it  where we can get it—whether it be at school, at church, or in our community theatre.

Every waking moment since last  Wednesday, I am consumed with an overwhelming anxiety about our country.

So, the next time  you’re faced with too much on your plate, do yourself a favor. Say no.

Although my work is just beginning, it is already indebted to him. And so, I say,  O Captain! my Captain! Thank you.

Public libraries are small town America’s lifeline. More than just a place to pick  up a book, in rural places like the one I live in, they are the cultural heart of the town. 

To me, a musical movie isn’t merely a stage production on film.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to direct for the first time. It wasn’t anything huge, just a  short play during a night of staged readings put on by Allegheny College Student Experimental  Theatre (S.E.T.).

“I just don’t get it—how a mediocre actor from a measly little town is suddenly  the brightest jewel in England’s royal crown.” Barely ten minutes into the show,  Something Rotten manages to sum up exactly how most students feel about William  Shakespeare—ambivalent at best and loathful at worst. 

For those of us attending school remotely, ita??s a whole new world.

Ten hours. Three teams. One line and one prop. All-Day Theatre Fest tested my  creative will-power, my imagination, and in the age of COVID-19, my laptopa??s battery life.

What frequently starts as friendly debate can instantly transform into criticizing other Broadway fansa?? tastes, usually in an attempt to prove some sort of superior appreciation of the artsa?"in short, gatekeeping.