My director's purpose for the play The Virtual Support Group From Hell was the idea of acceptance. Through virtual therapy, the characters in The Virtual Support Group From Hell learn how to embrace themselves, whether that be the extra hair they grow that makes them insecure or their drinking problems that arise as a vampire. With this idea of acceptance, I also wanted to make sure to address the stigma behind therapy and mental health and how it should be normalized for anyone to go to therapy, whether you are dealing with an existential crisis or a boy that infuriates you, we all deserve to get help. Every one has problems, including monsters, especially during the pandemic, and sometimes we all just need to be more accepting. To show this, I really wanted Wendy to reflect a round character (a character who changes throughout the play), first embodying the stigma of mental health to realizing that virtual therapy is actually extremely helpful, a place where she can feel accepted. In addition, as my directing went on, I began to form a link between virtual therapy and theatre at South Mountain High School. The link lies within acceptance and how I found acceptance within theatre, not only gaining lasting friends, but also gaining a sense of comfort and safety to not only be myself, but to also be the 200 other characters with different voices, statures, and backstories, on and off stage that I have been assigned to. Theatre would not work without acceptance, especially when doing improv, since you must accept what is handed to you and trust that the actors you are working with will have your back.

While I don't know if there is much historical or cultural relevance with this play, I did find it of importance to mention the link between the pandemic referenced in the play along to the pandemic we are all currently facing. I think laughter and comedy are a common coping mechanism for dealing with trauma and difficult situations, such as being stuck at home with your kids 24/7, and I think there was definitely a connect between the actors and their characters through this, particularly Dr. Tammy and Frank. With the ongoing pandemic, there is a disconnect between all of us, being isolated in our own homes, and that is definitely a prominent theme throughout The Virtual Support Group From Hell. I think all of us right now could utilize therapy, even if there are inequities through healthcare and stigma, and I love the way this play establishes a connection through Zoom, where all of us are in our own homes, but are together online. The isolation between all of us has always been there, even before COVID-19, and it will be there after, but I think that notion can be changed if we take notice to it. The Virtual Support Group From Hell really taught me the importance of checking in with one another and having a group of people, whether they be strangers or friends, to rely on.

There were definitely a few issues that I had to deal with while filming The Virtual Support Group From Hell. First, I would have changed the circumstances of working online, which created a multitude of problems from technology to noisy backgrounds to glitching, making it virtually impossible to have all of the characters say a line at once, especially since "Dr. Phil be praised" was spoken by the entire cast a multitude of times. I would also have spent more time going through the entire play without stopping, for it seemed almost impossible at dress rehearsals to get through the entire play, since we had been practicing rehearsing the play in chunks, instead of as a flowing piece. In addition, if I could go back to auditions and change anything, I would have tried harder to advertise to get more people interested in auditioning, as well as casting understudies. Without understudies, a few issues arose with attendance and I was worried at the last minute that we wouldn't be able to record. I would have also switched the app I used to record. As much as I love Zoom, it was quite difficult to record the play and the chat feature would not let me upload documents to send to the cast. Even with all the things I could have changed, I am immensely proud of what my actors and I have accomplished and I have no regrets.

Theatre and musical theatre has unlocked a side of myself I never knew was there: my creativity, empathy, and great memorization skills. Through theatre, I have gained a new understanding that no matter how small the role you have, there is a reason why you were written into the script, it may just not be as obvious as one would wish. Theatre has also challenged the way I view success. As a usually objective person, I tend to look for quantitative data to prove whether or not I am succeeding at something, such as grades; however, you cannot do that with theatre. There is no 'A' in a play and there is no "one way" to succeed in your role. Theatre has so many open ends and paths one can take, choices. And if I am being completely honest, I am not always the best at making choices for I am afraid I will the pick the wrong one. But theatre has taught me that there is no one "right" choice and that there are a million of them, small and vast, that we must decide for ourselves and for our characters what is best. To sum that up, theatre has taught me how to trust my gut and how to succeed through dedication, time, and making mistakes. With The Virtual Support Group From Hell, I definitely had to learn how to be patient, especially dealing with eight different people in my cast who I have to direct and make sure that I address all of their concerns. I have also learned how to problem solve, spending time working with actors who need a bit more help with their lines and troubleshooting situations with students who did not have a good internet connection. In addition, as a director, I stepped up to lead and I now know a lot more about leadership, whether that be modeling how an actor should behave to listening to my fellow actors and getting their opinions on things. And, to reiterate, the most important thing I feel that I have gained from directing The Virtual Support Group From Hell was a sense of acceptance and a realization of how important trust is for actors. I had to trust that my cast would show up every day, learn their lines, express their creativity, and have fun, and in return, they trusted me in directing them and showing them my vision. If everyone in the world could be as accepting as the characters in my play or the actors in my rehearsals, I think we'd be living in a pretty good place.