Student Blog: My Theatre Traditions

When it comes to being part of a show, there are many things that I have to do before a show starts out of habit, and even out of superstition. Then, there are the traditions that I love to do, as they make me feel closer and more connected to the cast and crew around me. Here are some of those things!

One of the things I have to do before every show starts, or else (in my brain) we will have a bad show, is to shake all of my nervousness out. I shake my arms and my legs one at a time as I count to eight and then once I have counted to eight while shaking all of them one at a time, I do it again, but this time, I only count to seven, and then I repeat that process until I get all the way down to one, and it’s just a big jumbled mess of me flailing my arms and legs around and counting to one. In my brain, if I don’t do this, I will have a bad show, so before every show I do, I make sure that I do this so that I can guarantee that I have a show that I am happy with, and most of the time, it works out well!

Moving on to one of my favorite theatre traditions… There is one community theatre company that I have been doing shows with since my Freshman year of high school, and ever since that first show, they have one tradition that has become my favorite pre-opening night ritual. It goes like this:

The entire cast, crew, and production team gets in a big circle, and we have a ball of yarn. The person who starts with the yarn ties it around their wrist and says something about what working on this show has meant to them. After they are done speaking, they throw the ball of yarn to someone else in the circle, and they tie it around their wrist, and repeat the same process. That process is repeated until everyone in the circle has gotten the ball of yarn, and we all have a little yarn bracelet tied around our wrists. By the end, we have this giant spiderweb of yarn in the middle of the circle that connects everyone, and it makes for a really special moment right before we open the show that we have spent so much time and energy on. After we admire the spiderweb for a couple of seconds, we cut everyone out, and everyone is left with a yarn bracelet to wear during the shows, which makes everyone feel connected as we go to the stage and put everything we have into the show. This is one of the most special moments to me because it really is a beautiful time that allows us to share what we are really feeling in the moment- whether it be nervous, or excited, or even a little bit of both-  and connect with the group of people that we have worked so hard with. 

Overall, traditions in theatre are some of my favorite things ever, and I can’t wait to learn more throughout my time in college and the rest of my life!