Dear “Antigone,”
Theatre has always been a core pillar in my life. I started acting in my church’s Christmas plays when I was six years old, and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I did my first full-length musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” when I was nine. In sixth grade, I began attending an arts magnet school as a vocal music major and then switched to theatre when I was in eighth grade. Theatre was my escape, my release. No matter how hard things got in my life, I always had theatre to ground me and connect me back to my roots. I learned what it means to be human through analyzing various characters and bringing them to life. I wouldn’t be who I am today without it.
Attending an arts magnet school in which I had a major in middle school, and high school was intense. The academics were rigorous, and the arts were competitive. I never lost my love for theatre per se, but when it came time to apply for college, I decided I didn’t want to pursue it professionally. I made this decision when I was a junior in high school, counting on the fact that I would still have my senior year to be in plays and perform. But when the world shut down in March 2020, live theatre was ripped away from me. The last live performance I did was in November 2019.
Before the pandemic, I felt confident in my decision not to study theatre in college, but when it slipped away from me without any warning, doubts began to flood my mind, and I began to grieve the path I decided against. Something that drew me to CU Boulder, however, is that anyone, in any major, can audition for the university’s theatre productions. I didn’t get the chance to take advantage of this opportunity during my first three semesters, but I leaped when the chance to audition came around again at the beginning of my fourth semester.
The cast list came out, and I couldn’t have been happier. I was cast in “Antigone” as Anna, a gossipy 16-year-old girl passionate about fashion and bedazzling. Two of my friends from high school were also cast. The odds of that seemed insane to me, the three of us making up almost half of the seven-person cast. On the first day of rehearsal, I immediately felt welcomed. I was the only cast member who was not studying theatre, but that didn’t matter. We all started bonding almost immediately.
The subject matter was intense, with themes of predatory behavior within a Catholic school, but we found moments of laughter and lightheartedness in every single rehearsal. During our last runthrough before tech, we went absolutely bonkers. At least five different dialects were used, props went flying, characters became unrecognizable, and we laughed uncontrollably. It was exactly what we needed before the week to come.
“Antigone” reminded me why I love theatre, and that I never want to be without it again. I rediscovered a piece of myself that wasn’t necessarily missing but that hadn’t been nurtured in far too long. I got to play and remember what it felt like to be my own 16-year-old self, putting on a production exactly like the bubbly 16-year-old girl I had the privilege of playing. I got to escape, once again, into the world of a beautiful play with beautiful people. “Antigone” made me feel whole again.
Every cast is special, but the cast of “Antigone” was unlike any other. I already miss carpooling with Eli, Sofia, Marie Antoinette, and Wyleigh, sharing Skittles and Squiggles with Mat, and wordlessly asking for my lipstick back by reaching my hand out to Tilly. I got to rekindle and deepen my relationships with Sofia and Marie Antoinette, and I gained four brand new friends too. I hope to hold onto each one of these beautiful relationships for the rest of my life. “Antigone” will always hold a special place in my heart, and I will never forget the joy and love it brought me. Thank you to my directors, stage managers, designers, runcrew, and most of all, my cast and six of my dearest friends.
With love and gratitude,
Anna