Challenge #1 The Acting Class

Listen to me read the story here or read the text below:

As I walked towards the classroom, I felt a feeling of excitement. Finally, I was taking a step towards letting go of a deep-seated fear and doing it all on my own terms. For weeks I had been looking forward to the acting class and could not wait to see what surprises it held in store. There is something very exciting about stepping out of your comfort zone. It can be unsettling at first, but then there is this curiosity about who you might be and what you might find out about yourself in this new setting.

We started the class with an introduction round. This is usually where the anxiety begins for me. All eyes on me waiting to hear who I am, but I tossed the fear and thought it’s all or nothing. I am ready to be honest and meet this blog challenge head on. Then, after listening in, I realized that all who chose to attend this class were here for the same reason: to find our voices and to connect with our audiences. Some of us were writers, some musicians, others presenters, some simply shy and there were a few actors too; but we were all, in some way, looking to find comfort in our own spotlight.

In this class I learned to accept my emotions. That was the biggest lesson I took with me. Instead of trying to push away the fear, which would often only lead to panic, I learned to take time to breathe and to be in the moment. In acting, authenticity is required at all times. Our teacher often reminded us: acting is not pretending. It is being there with your character and your audience, connecting to their emotions. The fear you experience before stepping into the spotlight or when sharing a part of yourself is honest and has the power to bring your character to life. So breathe and then be.

During a particular exercise, I got to put this newfound knowledge to the test. Each of us had to choose a mysterious object from a bag of goodies. As the teacher explained the exercise, I could already feel a small sense of dread growing in the pit of my stomach. She explained that we each should create a fictional memory surrounding the object we pull from the bag. We had never seen the objects, so everything had to be spontaneous.

When my turn came I reached into the bag and pulled out a very scary monkey. At least that was my first impression. It was a puppet with light gray fur, a pink face and large black eyes. It was the kind of puppet that you were afraid might come alive at night and choke you with its little, hard, pink hands. At second glance, the monkey looked awkward and sad which made it somewhat endearing. I looked at him, took a deep breath, felt my fear and began to tell my story.

I told this story about my friend, my best friend. She became ill when we were teenagers. The monkey was a gift she had bought for me when we were at the zoo. She knew the monkey scared me, so she thought it would be funny to give it to me, a souvenir to remember a crazy day together. My friend was special to me. We were nonsensical partners in crime and I almost lost her. In that time all I could do was cling to my memories and this endearing, creepy monkey.

The story went on, and it was heartfelt with small details. My audience of classmates was silent as I told the story, only interrupting to ask questions like “Did your friend get better?” and “Did you give the monkey a name?”. She did eventually recover and I named the monkey “Chester” but she would always call him “Charlie”. My audience told me they could feel the happiness in the memory but also my deep sadness. In truth, although this make-believe story was truly sad, it was difficult to feel the sadness, as I was preoccupied with being nervous. So I simply let my shortness of breath and insecurity translate into sadness and loss. The fear made the story real. It was an eye-opening experience. In that moment fear was my ally, and I realized it does not have to be my enemy.

The experience of the class was overwhelming to the senses, because not only did I witness my transformation but also the transformation of others in the class. We had all just met and still, after only five classes, we felt connected. In the very last class, it felt weird to think that I would not see all of them again next week. We would not be standing together in a circle, doing awkward warm-ups and laughing while dancing our names.

If I could express the effect of the acting class in some fantastic but honest way, it would go something like this: It’s like when you walk into a room and you see a small but very bright light floating in the middle of it. You walk towards it and it moves towards you. Upon meeting, it enters your chest and spreads its rays there inside of you. Then you notice that you have grown. There was some type of nourishment you were missing and you now feel more whole than you had ever felt before.

Writing the acting article is like trying to describe what happened after the light hit my chest. I cannot quite put it into detailed words, but I can tell you that it was the beginning of something great.

Thank you for reading! Have any of you ever tried something new and felt how it transformed you? Please share your story in the comments below.