Unexpected Change of Plans

Jocelyn B.'s Summer of 2013

I thought I read somewhere to write about our summer. I guess I imagined that. Anyway, here was a defining moment in mine:

As May drew close, I drew up a detailed course load in the areas of my hobbies for summer learning. I figured if I wasn’t going to take any summer courses at RIC, then I should study other avenues. A big part of that was reading Frank Capra’s Autobiography “The Name Above The Title” and watching all of his films as he wrote about making them. He is my favourite director so I knew it would be something I would be excited to work on. There would be no excuses. All of the areas I drew up had similar interests that resided in my heart. However, I still found excuses.

Two nights before I took the final for the Histories & Comedies of Shakespeare, I attended a performance of the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. production of Romeo and Juliet. These graduate students put on some of the most enjoyable theatre in the state and I really look forward to their productions. I was never a huge Romeo and Juliet fan but I’m always loved Mr. Shakes (as I lovingly call him) so I was game.

As you walked into the theatre, which is a wide open space of the former Citizen’s Bank building in Providence across from the library, you were led into a circle of stands. You walked under two giant white feather wings and took a seat on the bleachers. There were lots of coloured lanterns and stringed lights everywhere. Fun music was playing and conversations were spilling out around the circle. You felt like you were a guest at Capulet’s party.

The characters were dressed in modern clothes. Some of the dialogue had poems by the likes of Whitman and Ginsberg spliced in. It was full of action, fervor, poetry and of course, love! After Romeo and Juliet meet and she says good night was what I have since referred to as a defining moment for me. All the actors freeze and a spotlight falls on Romeo who stares out into space. Without moving his head is hand reaches to the ceiling with his index finger pointed out and then he brings it back down again, right in tune with Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

Being a theatre snob, my first reaction was that this was ridiculously corny and foolish. I remained hopeful and engaged though. Before I knew it my legs was moving to the beat as my heart was filling up with joy. The characters were all dancing without inhibitions as we in the audience began to feel the love and excitement that Romeo was feeling. Somehow that choice of song was enough to bring us all to that place of new love. It was an incredible experience.

Hours later once lots more poetry is spewed and tons of blood is spilled, I take it all in. I walk back to my car. All I can focus on is the bloody footprints the two actors who played Romeo and Juliet left behind on the stage after they took their bows and walked away. Romeo’s left and Juliet’s right, as if they were one person. I’m not paying attention as I trip over the cracked sidewalk and go flying face first to the ground. A couple of strangers creep out of the dark to help me up and I hobble to the car, now 20 feet away.

I got a large scar that day but I love that I do. When I look at it, I’m reminded of that production and how it led me to how I feel now. I grew up in the theatre as my Mother received her degree in it and so I’ve watched her direct and perform all my life. I always loved it and begin to act as well. When I started college twelve years ago, that was my intended major too, just like my Mom. Somewhere down the line I started to think that maybe it was just something I loved because it was something I grew up with, something I understood. So I decided I would step away from my involvement in the theatre.

I never stopped going to shows though and I’m grateful that I didn’t. Seeing this production opened my eyes, mind and heart wide open again. I now know that theatre is my passion as well as my mother’s but that I love it on my own, not because she does. When I shared my experience with my mom she mentioned how she always dreamed we would run our own theatre together. I can feel that dream becoming a reality.

So instead of working on my intended course over the summer, I dived into reading as many plays as I could instead. I read them first as an actress and then as a director. I now know I want to do both. Once I graduate from RIC, I may just go for the M.F.A. program myself. What I know for certain now is that I can still be surprised and excited in theatre and that I want to become someone who gives that same kind of experience to others!

 

 

Picture Links:

 

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