A Creative Experience

This semester I had the opportunity of operating the light board for Chapman’s theatre department’s production of Anna in the Tropics. This experience fulfilled my major’s mandatory theatre practicum credit, in which I was to join the crew and embrace one technical theatre position for the duration of the production’s run.

To be frank, there were aspects of this experience that I enjoyed, and others that were tedious to endure. I’ll begin by saying that though the production was entertaining, and had moments that featured quality student work, the production was not flawless and was difficult to watch after the fifth (or so) performance. When the lighting designer was teaching me the ropes of the system, he jokingly warned me to be careful not to fall asleep on the job. I initially saw this to be something I would not have a problem with, yet in reality, there were times in which I would struggle to stay awake. The booth was unreasonably cold, so in preparation of enduring the tundra I dressed bundled up in many layers. Side note: one night when I was walking home from the theatre, snug in my many black layers, a police car shined its bright spotlight on my back and pulled over to the side of the road next to me. The cop was curious to see if I had seen anything unusual that evening, to which I responded no, though I know it was my suspicious attire that motivated the pause in their route.  

The production was not bad. In fact, it featured many artistically beautiful and aesthetically pleasing moments. After debriefing the production with my peers who performed in it, it became clear that the production provided these students with an extremely positive experience. In the end I am glad I was a small part of this production, for I did learn a lot. I just wouldn’t say light board operating is on my list of dream careers.

A Creative Experience

On September 20, 2014 I joined some of my fellow Chapman theatre majors in attending South Coast Repertory’s production of The Long Road Today/El Largo Camino De Hoy in the City of Santa Ana Civic Center Plaza. The Santa Ana community inspired the creation of this new play, in which true stories are joined together to tell the stories of the Santa Ana Latino community. South Coast Repertory began this project’s journey two years ago, inviting more than 1,000 residents of Santa Ana to share their stories through a variety of community feedback sessions, staged readings, and story-sharing sessions.

It was a unique experience attending this play for the performance took place outside, and unconventionally so. After gathering around an outside stage for the opening scene, the audience was split into four different groups where we remained for the duration of the performance. Within our individual groups, we traveled to different performance spaces around the plaza where we then watched each space’s respective scene. In the program, playwright José Cruz González explains his intentions behind this project. He writes, “I imagined that our audience would gather together at a central place and then be sent on a journey encountering simultaneous performances, closing with a culminating experience where neighbors and visitors experience, “Tú eres mi otro yo” or “You are my other self”. I feel that González was spot on with his image of the experience. As I traveled to and from the different performance spaces, I felt that I was a part of a something greater; that I was a part of a community of sorts. As my group was being escorted between locations, I felt that the cast put in extra energy into making their audience feel at home.

González closes, “The key always has been to engage the heart and mind, in which we experience transformation and, hopefully, reshape our pre-conceived notions of neighbor/outsider through the exploration of self, space and perception.”

After the performance ended I left the plaza with warmth in my heart, happy that I could be a part of such a communal experience.

Poem - When I am Anxious

When I’m anxious

I feel an internal war within me.

Drips of sweat gather

At the base of my neck, and my heart

Thuds in my chest.

My closed eyelids bring restless delusions as

Thoughts of darkness

Seep past my skull’s breaking barrier

leaving my body to lie weak in silence.

Each minute feels like an hour, and each hour a day.

The world continues around me

But I stay stagnant, unable to progress.

When I am anxious, I live dwelled in the past.

I am blind to my successes

And each day brings further strain.

I long for an escape, 

A one way ticket away from

Life’s troubling realities into a land

Where the sun shines brightly and the grass is always green.

I crave to dip my toes in the running waters

And breathe the salty air until

The moonlight cradles me to sleep

And I am anxious no more.

Poem - Hidden

I am ambitious and determined

except when I’m not.

Sometimes

I can hear the whole world

pounding on my bedroom door,

but I keep it locked.

I am hidden deep

inside under a blanketed fort

suspended by chairs and overpriced hair ties.

There I remain for days,

eating popcorn and protein cheerios.

I forget about hygiene

And I forget about mirrors.

I play soft music to

keep me company, and my bright night light

in the corner keeps me

content when the sun can no longer shine

through the blinds.

I stay in my fort until I feel the

storm clear.

The Plunge (edited)

Our pulses tremble under our flannel shirts

And fleece vests. My numb fingers squeeze his.

“Have I ever told you you’re beautiful?”

His pupils deep sea blue, jawbone stone sharp.

I feel my cheeks flush pink. “Stay here with me,

Where prisons are Far and the sea is near.” I feel his

Fingers grasp mine as he lowers to one knee,

 “I wish I could silence the ticking of the clock,

So this moment with you would become infinite”.

The crisp smell of fresh rain fills my lungs,

As little drops of rain leave freckles on the ground around us.

One lands on his sleeve, another on my nose.

Gently, he kisses the droplet away and

Captures me in his embrace. I have found my

Love.