A Performance to Remember

by Travis Rocha

It’s been awhile since I was on stage for a theatrical performance. I haven’t taken the stage for a production since senior of high school; and, well, I still haven’t, but that’s OK! I’m just now really delving into the theater program at Christopher Newport, and last week my scene partner and I finally presented what we have been working on for the past month to my Broadway to Boardroom class.

The assignment was to take a scene from one of the plays we had read and then bring it to life. The class is generally for non-theater majors, so a lot of the students haven’t acted before. That adds such an engaging dynamic to the course because we’re all experiencing something very unique and new together. My scene partner didn’t have any prior acting experience, but she was actually a natural!

We rehearsed a few times every week and before we knew it, we were presenting our scene for the class. It went off without a hitch, and it felt great to be formally acting again, even if it’s just in a classroom setting. Normally, play rehearsals last about a month or so. To spend a month on one scene might sound like a slow pace, but it gave us so much time to perfect every little detail and ensure each action and line was deliberate and done with purpose.

Our professor gave us some feedback and now we all are getting ready for our final scene presentation in a few weeks. So far, the class has been a stupendous introductory course to what the theater program has to offer. A one scene presentation to a classroom of 15 may not sound like much, but it was definitely a performance I’ll never forget. I can’t wait to see what the last few weeks of the semester have in store, and, even better, to continue with the theater program next semester!