Performer:
In all honesty, no one really understands what we performers go through. They see us put on our performance one time. They think it’s as easy as 1-2-3. In reality, they don’t see how hard we work to get our lines right and our body motions to go with the lines. Everything must be practiced and done right. In rehearsal we may joke around with each other and play around, but when we hit that stage, everything becomes professional. If we do something wrong, we can criticize ourselves for weeks, even months about what we did wrong. If we do everything right and perfect, we give ourselves so much confidence and assurance that we were nothing less than amazing!
As we stand on that stage under the bright lights, our heart beats fast,our palms start sweating, and it almost feels like we’re under pressure to be perfect.
We performers are always dedicated and determined to make a show amazing and perfect. We stay after school, 2 days a week, until 5:30 in the afternoon practicing and perfecting every little piece of our performance. We want to do and be our best for everyone. As we stand on that stage under the bright lights, our heart beats fast,our palms start sweating, and it almost feels like we’re under pressure to be perfect. We get nervous because all we want is for the audience to enjoy the show, but we also don’t want to mess up. Sure we make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop and perfect it. If we’re in rehearsal, that’s fine but on stage, in front of an audience, the show must go on.
As an audience member, it’s easy for me to judge the performers. If they mess up, I can easily laugh and say “Wow, they made a mistake.” I can see everything they’re doing and I can start to gossip about what I think is stupid or what I think they did wrong. I can say they should’ve done better. Is that fair to them? I don’t know how much work they put into this. I don’t know how many hours they spent practicing to make it perfect for us audience members. I question myself, thinking “Could I have done that In front of so many people?” Sitting in the audience is a piece of cake, we sit there, we pay attention, and we judge. It doesn’t take much effort. Yet at the same time, the audience has a job as well. As I’m sitting and watching the performers, I should be paying attention and I should be focused because the performers work hard to make the show awesome. They aren’t’ just up there performing for no reason, they are up there to entertain us. We didn’t have to show up. It was an option.
Sitting in the audience is a piece of cake, we sit there, we pay attention, and we judge.
Words by Ayisha Nakooka
Photos by Olga Gula
Audio by Angel Hernandez