I stumbled into student theatre somewhat by chance. I had every intention of pursuing it when I arrived in Cambridge, of course, but little idea about how to actually get involved. It might easily have slipped onto a list of things to think about later in the year, when I was more settled.
As it was, I went to the ADC on a tour with a friend, and someone asked me if I wanted a drop-in slot to audition for a freshers play. I had in no way at all prepared – but I said yes. I was lucky that this opportunity presented itself to me before I knew anything about the theatre scene or its internal workings.
I knew it was a stab in the dark, but I hadn’t been infected with the idea that holds so many back – that I wasn’t the right kind of person, or didn’t know the right kind of people, that I wasn’t part of the ‘in crowd’. It was a freshers play after all, specifically designed to help integrate beginners into this world. I wish we could all go back to that state of innocence, and channel the same blind confidence.
“I wonder sometimes how much talent we must be sleeping on” I wonder sometimes how much talent we must be sleeping on. I have friends who love theatre, who are talented and enthusiastic, who would bring so much to production and get so much out of it, who are yet to make any foray into this world. When it’s so complex and overwhelming, and so easy to miss when openings are offered, I think it’s imperative that we make newcomers feel welcome in this w.
