One of the current experiences I’ve completed so far is being a part of Phoenix Dramatics, our school’s theater department.

Last semester, the Phoenix Dramatics held a production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. In preparation for such a technically time-centric play, we had to prepare props that would pay proper homage to the original Wizarding World. Therefore, I helped arrange props by sending out forms to teachers and students, asking to borrow any Harry Potter merchandise.

In this production, I also had to guide my underclassmen in backstage etiquette—that is, knowing when it’s time to “get into places” and remain quiet backstage.

This experience was wonderful for me, as I now get to empathize with the upperclassmen I so heavily leaned on back when I was a freshman. Now, it was up to me and my peers to help calm nervousness and bring order during rehearsals.

However, there were many challenges with this experience as well due to Harry Potter’s technical nature—props were breaking, outfits were tearing, and thus came the risk of not being able to return borrowed materials. Furthermore, some actors were unable to memorize their lines until the day before the show.

This experience, therefore, taught me how important it is to remain patient and calm in times of stress, for both myself and others. It also taught me to be kinder to myself when I’m on stage and performing with my own anxiousness. Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, and I got to make creative decisions for the Phoenix Dramatics Instagram page as well—posting content, etc.

In the future, I would take all the mishaps into consideration when performing in other Phoenix Dramatics productions. I would also try to get the teacher involved if anything goes wrong beyond my control, such as broken props. I would like to improve the advertising aspect too, because the more cast and crew members we have, the better.

Then, we could bring back the idea of having understudies—like RIS Drama used to have many years ago! This would allow for more opportunities for students, as they could switch with others for roles they want.