I feel like I have always interpreted things differently than how the subject I'm working on wants it. I felt misunderstood and never knew how to make others understand me. I was told my way of thinking was wrong and there was either a right or wrong answer. Everything was so black and white until I found theatre that blurred my world with color and perspective. I found a passion of wanting to understand different perspectives in theatre. I believe there is much to be learned from others. Perspectives are shaped from our personal character and experiences along with the context we are given from what we are perceiving. This is my mission in storytelling. In the spring of junior year I found directing. My theatre class was presented with a directing curriculum where we had to choose a scene from Alice In Wonderland and direct a strategically assigned group. The director was given the liberty to alter the scene to their vision. I could interpret the scene however I wanted without being told I was wrong and create something not only understandable to me but an audience. My scene portrayed the situation where the Cat tricks Alice into switching roles. I expressed the hero and villain with a gray scale to show that not everything is black and white. Visual elements of shadows and light expressed the transformation of body and mind. I learned about my personal values and how my brain works. My world view is gray tones; very little is in the good/bad of black and white. The complexity of situations inspires me and my craft revolves around visual expression for impact. Using symbolic visuals in directing is how my brain communicates and understands. Adding more visual elements, it keeps the audience invested and makes it easier to follow the storyline. Combining these elements into a show to communicate a message reaches an audience in a way everyone can not only understand but feel. I want to contribute this to theater to rejuvenate the space and bring in a wider audience. What I love about movies is the visuals, but they can be too literal, and what I love about theater is its abstraction along with a live audience. So why not combine the two? So taking the visual element and combining it with the abstract of theater with a live audience creates almost a 3D feeling. When perceiving my art I want people to not know how to feel and to be conflicted, questioning their beliefs. I want to create a conversation, where you discuss what you experienced or saw with others. I want to share this message not because I want to change people's beliefs but just to make them understand something inside and outside of themselves that otherwise they would never experience. I hope that the impact of this message will have society having more understanding for others.

I’m a twin. My earliest memory was climbing from my crib to my twin brother’s. Clearly, I have an adventurous personality. However, as a twin I started out life codependent. The yin and yang between the two are my life story. I am a creative and sensitive personality. I recall writing random songs, inspired by my surroundings. My parents are extremely introverted so they and my brothers were my world. I was lucky to have my twin as my companion. I felt connected with my family, and would cry if my mom was crying. I hated seeing them anxious or upset as it frightened me, so I would always listen to them. The forced socialization of Kindergarten was anxiety provoking but I had my twin! My world suddenly improved when my twin and I were cast as Mr. and Mrs. Claus for the Holiday Show. Performing in front of an audience was exhilarating yet terrifying, but I was doing it with my twin. Then middle school started and so did my anxiety. I grew up in a household with anxiety but thought I had escaped those feelings because I had my twin. I decided to use my positives - an adventurous and creative personality - to overcome the negatives, so I joined the theater club. Starting theater put my life on a new path. I found a sense of community and expression. Although many days felt like I was at the top of a roller coaster waiting for the drop, I kept going. I started talking with a worry coach, and learned helpful coping mechanisms. For the first time, my twin and I were not sharing the same experience. He didn’t have anxiety and didn’t need a worry coach. Our paths were beginning to diverge. Covid set me back. I was forced into days in my comfort zone - the only contact I had for months was my family. But having experienced friends, theater and adventure, I used this time to work on myself and my craft. Leaping completely out of my comfort zone, I created an audition tape for a regional magnet school specializing in tech and art. The audition was complete with a monologue from an over-the-top-wanna-be TV personality (me), an emotional rendition of “God Help the Outcasts” from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a heartfelt interview. I sent it off and was SHOCKED a month later to receive my warm welcome and acceptance. The next big chapter of my life was decided, and I would be writing it without my twin. A new school, a new curriculum, unknown classmates, and lacking the comfort zone of my twin, my anxiety skyrocketed. I took a deep breath, and put myself out there because theater was my passion. Early in Sophomore year, I auditioned in a shaky voice for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. When I was awarded the role of The FooI, I made sure to be over-prepared, work outside of rehearsal, and used every coping mechanism I knew. I pushed my anxiety aside and had a confident performance. My speech patterns, stage movement, and characterization improved. I grew hungry for more. Junior year found me multitasking. I performed in two shows simultaneously and created costumes for the musical. I discovered a passion for directing and will co-direct a competitive piece in November of senior year. Theater shaped me into the person I’ve always wanted to be. The anxiety paralyzed bystander is gone. I fought to get here and I’ll continue to, even though it’s hard. I can’t wait to experience the next chapters of my life.

My big dream is to become a director where I use my values and art to create conversations and add more visuals to live theater. I have always been passionate about different perspectives and wanting to understand them. I believe there is much to be learned from others. Perspectives are shaped from our personal character and experiences along with the context we are given from what we are perceiving. This is my mission in storytelling. I typically show this contextually with directing to demonstrate the complexity of people and situations. In life, or in theater, it may be more accepted to see things as black or white, but instead I show them the gray. It is easy to paint others or ourselves as a villain or a victim; in reality, it is not that simple. When perceiving my art I want people to not know how to feel and to be conflicted, questioning their beliefs. I want to create a conversation, where you discuss with others. I want to share this message not because I want to change people's beliefs but just to make them understand something inside and outside of themselves that otherwise they would never experience. I hope that the impact of this message will have society having more understanding for others. I feel like I have always interpreted things differently than others, and than the “conventional” interpretation. Through directing I can express and create a vision into something understandable to me. I think this is why I love having visual elements in directing, it is easier for me to express by showing them as a complement to the dialogue. My artistic vision with my directing is to use visual symbolic elements to support the message of the story. I believe that by adding more visual elements, it keeps the audience invested and makes it easier to follow the storyline. Combining these elements into a show to communicate a message reaches an audience in a way everyone can not only understand but also feel. I want to contribute this to theater to rejuvenate the space and bring in a wider audience. What I love about movies is the visuals, but they can be too literal, and what I love about theater is its abstraction along with a live audience. So why not combine the two? My approach is to take the visual element and combine them with the abstract of theater, and the bonus of a live audience creates almost a 3D feeling. This is my big dream to implement.

My big dream is to become a director where I use my values and art to create conversations and add more visuals to live theater. I have always been passionate about different perspectives and wanting to understand them. I believe there is much to be learned from others. Perspectives are shaped from our personal character and experiences along with the context we are given from what we are perceiving. This is my mission in storytelling. I typically show this contextually with directing to demonstrate the complexity of people and situations. In life, or in theater, it may be more accepted to see things as black or white, but instead I show them the gray. It is easy to paint others or ourselves as a villain or a victim; in reality, it is not that simple. When perceiving my art I want people to not know how to feel and to be conflicted, questioning their beliefs. I want to create a conversation, where you discuss with others. I want to share this message not because I want to change people's beliefs but just to make them understand something inside and outside of themselves that otherwise they would never experience. I hope that the impact of this message will have society having more understanding for others. I feel like I have always interpreted things differently than others, and than the “conventional” interpretation. Through directing I can express and create a vision into something understandable to me. I think this is why I love having visual elements in directing, it is easier for me to express by showing them as a complement to the dialogue. My artistic vision with my directing is to use visual symbolic elements to support the message of the story. I believe that by adding more visual elements, it keeps the audience invested and makes it easier to follow the storyline. Combining these elements into a show to communicate a message reaches an audience in a way everyone can not only understand but also feel. I want to contribute this to theater to rejuvenate the space and bring in a wider audience. What I love about movies is the visuals, but they can be too literal, and what I love about theater is its abstraction along with a live audience. So why not combine the two? My approach is to take the visual element and combine them with the abstract of theater, and the bonus of a live audience creates almost a 3D feeling. This is my big dream to implement.