Coming Out...

"Thespians do it on stage."

I finished my drama A level last year, before that I did it as a GCSE and ran a small AmDram group with fellow students, I also used to be involved with the New Youth Theatre, a production company with whom I did two large musicals and two dramas. I have loved every second of the past five years where All-Things-Theatrey are concerned.

I am now doing a third year at college but, even though I've been seeing plays non-stop, and even though I've been writing and reading as much as possible, and even though I'm excited about the prospects of studying drama in an insane amount of depth for three whole years at university next year, I am feeling the loss of, what was, a tremendous presence in my life.

I went to my first session of the college's own AD Society today.
Even though I feel drama is a massive part of me, I'm pretty socially awkward a lot of the time, often enveloping myself into a character is a good way of dealing with this problem, so a Youth Theatre is both exciting and a little scary.
I loved it. This freedom to direct and act and bounce ideas against people that can then run with or improve those ideas without worrying about the constraints that exams place on theatre, as a drama exam is, essentially, about knowing which hoops to jump through...and they tend to be on fire.
It was an amazing amount of fun, and even though I'd turned up feeling nervous, I couldn't believe how quickly those two hours disappeared.

A particular highlight for me was when someone found a small bottle and asked what it was.
I muttered "You do know what you're drinking is meant for eye surgery?" and assumed no one would get the reference, but was immediately told to "wear a jacket", which was immensely fun!

Absence supposedly makes the heart grow fonder.
What I've found this summer is that it rips me to pieces.
I think it's fair to say that nothing makes me happier and, even though there is the worry that I'll get out of uni with a BA in drama and no hope of a career, I really can't imagine doing anything else with my life.