The Importance of Being Inspired.

Last night I went to the theatre. I LOVE going to the theatre. IT'S BRILLIANT. I love watching people act rather than always being the one on stage. It's such a breath of fresh air. Refreshing, if you will.

ANYWAY.

I went to the theatre to see The Importance of Being Earnest. AND IT WAS BLOODY FABULOUS. I was thoroughly impressed. What a fantastic piece of theatre.

I studied The Picture of Dorian Gray last year in English Lit. and I loved it so much. I found Oscar Wilde to be such an incredibly interesting character and to have such a unique writing style. I love Victorian Literature; it's fascinating. So when I saw The Importance of Being Earnest playing nearby, I knew that I just HAD to go. So I told my friend Mia about, and it was set.

THANK THE LORD THAT I SAW THIS PLAY ADVERTISED. AND THANK THE LORD THAT WE GOT TICKETS. I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE CRIED UNCONTROLLABLY IF WE HADN'T.

But we did. So it's all good.
Anyway. I should stop rambling and get more to the point.

I thought that the entire performance was simply marvellous. I could not have taken my eyes from the stage even if I'd wanted to. Transfixed is an accurate description. I was utterly captivated; that's when you know that it's a good piece of drama. No amount of words can adequately describe what I felt about the performance, so I should probably just go into more detail about the particular aspects which really stood out to me.

1) Every single one of the actors was INCREDIBLE. Utterly flawless performances.
2) The costumes, THE COSTUMES. They were so incredible. I felt like I was sat in the 19th Century. Bloody fabulous.
3) The chairs. Oh my goodness me, I wanted to take them all home with me; they were beautiful.
4) The set was wonderful. Simple yet very, VERY effective.
5) The lighting was excellent. It was perfect in each act; it didn't take anything away from the performance. I hate it when people go all crazy with the lights.
6) IT WAS HILARIOUS. ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. I didn't think that I would laugh so much. But it was just so funny!
7) This isn't really anything to do with the performance, but the actors did a post-show talk in the bar which was lovely. I didn't ask a question; although I probably should have done. What a silly Drama student I am. But I just went all quiet and the actors had to leave because they had to travel to their next theatre. BUT, the lovely Ashley Cook (playing Algernon Moncrieff [brilliant name I must say, I wish that could be my name too]) came over to talk to Mia at the end. Mia, like me, does not often bode well in awkward situations. Although, me being a Drama student, I should probably have more confidence. But I don't. I think that my confidence comes out on stage rather than in real life. Which kind of sucks. But anyway. Mia is a little more shy than me; she may or may not have gotten a little bit of a panic rash going on. So, Ashley came over and was so lovely to us, and asked Mia what her question was. She asked about context in the play and its relationship with The Picture of Dorian Gray, and she then asked how you get the confidence to speak in front of people, let alone perform on stage.

This was a pearl of wisdom from my dear companion. Such a brilliant question. Because I have always been inquisitive myself. It's weird that I take Drama as an A Level, and have been studying it for over six years, and yet the thought of standing in front of a room full of people and talking to them fills me with dread. I'm actually starting to feel a little bit nervous just thinking about it. I really don't understand myself. I think that there's this invisible barrier between my acting/confidence/performance skills in Drama and then those very same skills in other areas. ENGLISH PRESENTATIONS. GOOD LORD. They're horrendous. I hate doing them. I hate that I'm not at all confident in front of people that I've grown up with for years. So you can just imagine me in front of strangers.

I've always thought that this is because of the fact that, in Drama, the performance isn't me; I'm an actor playing a character. But in other subjects I get so nervous because it's my own work, and I'm me. Mostly I'm always terrified that my work will be wrong, or won't make sense, or that I don't explain it properly. I always get panicky and my heart races and my hands start shaking. Then when I talk, I stand looking at the floor or at my notes. ROOKIE MISTAKES, HAYLEY. DID YOU NOT PAY ANY ATTENTION TO ANYTHING IN DRAMA OVER ALL OF THESE YEARS?! You don't look at the floor. You don't look at your notes. You make eye contact with your audience and you project your voice. I do that in Drama, why can't I do it at other times?!

Okay, so I kind of went off on a bit of a tangent there. Back to the main point. I never told you Ashley's answer to Mia's question. He said that you just have to not care what anyone else thinks. And you know what? He's so right. Maybe that's really why I get so nervous when I'm not in Drama; in Drama I don't care. It's my interpretation of the character and I can do whatever I want with my performance. But in other situations, I always care. I always worry about what others think. And I probably shouldn't. If I have the confidence in what I'm saying, then it'll be great.

Still, I don't think that this will happen easily. Or quickly, for that matter.

But one day, I will stand up in front of a room full of people, not be nervous, and will put my heart and soul into every single word I say. I WILL.


So thank you, Ashley, for your inspirational take on things. I'm eternally grateful.