Student Blog: Behind the Scenes: Reflections after Finishing the Play as an Usher

On April 29th, I finished my month-long ushering job for the play 'Faust'.

I had been working as an usher for the past three months, my perspective on theater has undergone a significant transformation during this time.

Previously when I went to the theater as an audience member, I had only focused on the stage, but now I began to see things outside of it and behind the scenes.

When I was an audience member, I used to only concentrate on the stage. When I entered the theater, I would feel like I was entering a fairy tale world that was different from reality. During the performance, I would stay in that world, and when leaving the theater and returning to the lobby, I would feel a sense of disappointment because I knew that I returned to reality. Therefore, on days when the performance left a lasting impression on me, I would sometimes find myself unable to leave the theater for a while.

After seeing a performance, I often felt in awe and deeply moved by the emotions. As if becoming one with something, I also wanted to become a part of the art production team. Because I loved theater art so much, I wanted to get even closer to it. Fortunately, I got a great opportunity to work as an usher and was able to participate in this play as part of the team.

What I learned while working as an usher is that we should not make our presence too noticeable in order to ensure that the stage is conveyed well to the audience. We should be like an invisible presence. This is what being an usher is all about. In particular, for this performance, which has been sold out every day with many audience members visiting the theater, it was important to help the audience concentrate on the show.

During this theatrical performance, there were several things that I particularly cared about, and one of them was maintaining order within the seating area. Especially since all video filming was restricted, we provided detailed guidance regarding filming to the audience. Fortunately, I remember that many audience members cooperated with the guidance well. One of the things that I paid attention to while working was assisting late-arriving audience members. It is also an usher's role to guide late-arriving audience members to their seats. After the performance begins, the seating area becomes dark, so the usher's help is necessary to enter the seating area. The usher also checks whether the audience is sitting properly. Based on the training I received during the past three months, I was assigned to guide late-arriving audience members alone for the first time in this theatrical work. Since the usher's role is to be like an invisible presence, I remember trying to enter the seating area as quietly as possible without disturbing other audience members while performing this task.

One thing I gained from working as an usher is affection to the performance. Being involved in the production process as a staff member allowed me to see things I had not noticed before when I was just a member of the audience. I had the opportunity to meet and observe the staff who worked hard before and after the performances, both in front of and behind the stage. I came to realize that creating a single production requires a tremendous amount of effort from many staff members. Additionally, I was reminded that a production is composed of numerous promises. This means that everyone has a designated role to play at a predetermined time. As an usher, my role was to open and close the doors at specific times, assist latecomers, and guide with the seating. Similarly, actors have their own specific roles to enter and exit the stage, move around, and so on. It occurred to me that it is a moment when everyone is doing their best from their respective positions with the goal of rewarding the audience with the best performance possible.

I had many enjoyable moments while participating in this theater performance. Being a part of creating a performance was more rewarding than I thought it would be. Of course, there were difficult moments during the process. But ultimately, I felt full of joy at the end of the show, especially because I loved the show and had a strong attachment to it. When I applied to the usher position, I wrote the cover letter that the meaning of performing arts lies in the fact that its aliveness. The experience of actors, staff, and audiences coming together as one in a moment of vibrant energy during the promised performance time is what I believed the performing art was about. There was a moment during the curtain call when the actors greeted the audience and the audience cheered them on with thunderous applause. I also remember audiences leaving positive comments about the performance as they exited the theater. As someone who has experienced joy and emotion of being an audience member, I hoped that as an usher, I could help the audience feel the same way. Through this play, I may have realized that dream.

Participating as a theater staff member gave me a great passion for the arts. I did joyfully do my tasks while listening to the actors rehearsing before the show started. When I worked on the first floor of the theater, I also remember the actors exchanging greetings with us. Not only that, but I also made various memories with the friends I worked with.

Making countless memories, the performance came to an end. I felt empty after it was over. Because while movies and dramas will be remembered forever on screen, theater performances only remain in our memories. I suddenly thought that it was quite sad.

"Can a moment become eternity?"

As I worked as an usher at the play, Faust , I thought that maybe a moment can become eternal. As long as a moment remains in our memories, it can last forever! I believe that memories of this Faust performance will remain in the memories of everyone who was a part of it.

Photo Credit: Eunsong Yang, (Last Photo) Wonjina Instagram(@j0i3n2a9)