4. Relate Theater to your LIFE!

I have learned so much about myself through taking this theater class. Going into the class, I really didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But as the semester went on, I really got to start learning about theater, and in turn, learning stuff about myself.

Theater relates to so many different parts of my life. It relates to me as a wife, it relates to my work experience, school, church setting, sports, my culture, etc. As a wife, it is my job to keep my husband entertained and in general, talk to him. Theater doesn’t have to be just getting up on a stage and performing. It can be as small as talking with friends. I’m a nanny to a 2 ½ year old little boy and I definitely can relate theater to that. I sing and dance with him. I have puppets that he loves to play with. He loves to act out different animals and stuff. At school, I can relate theater to my life just through presentations and meetings/get togethers with friends. Church is the main one where I can relate theater to my life. Maybe not so much as when I was young, but church is the one place where I could get on stage and sing or act, and I didn’t have to worry about what people were thinking. Sure, maybe they were judging me, but it was church and I knew that it didn’t matter. As long as I was having fun, it was all good. In my opinion, theater and church go hand-in-hand. If you have a church, there’s going to be some sort of theater there. And that’s where I felt most comfortable performing. We had talked about sports before and how they relate to theater. When you are in sports, you are performing in front of people, same with theater. In sports you are usually working with a team, same in theater. In sports, you have a coach, same with theater. I used to play softball and I can definitely relate to sports and theater coming together. And finally, I can relate theater to my culture. It’s an American thing to go to plays, enjoy performing, go to a Broadway show, etc. I love that kind of stuff!

I think I can relate theater to my life through “people watching” too. I know this sounds crazy, but I think everyone “people watches.” When I see someone walking down the street or walking through Wal-Mart, I can’t help but watch. If you think about it, you are always performing, someone is always watching you. So, even though I may think that no one is watching me, I know they are. And I’m watching them right back. This also goes along with fashion. When we :people watch”, we do more than just look at the person. We look at their clothes, makeup, hair, etc. And those are all part of a theater experience too.

I am passionate about children and teaching. So, if I can relate theater to that part of my life, I am going to be in good shape, which is pretty easy to do. Children love to act, sing, dance, etc. I love to teach and if I can teach them to act, sing, dance, just to have fun and enjoy who they are as a person, I think I have done my job. Theater is amazing and if children learn young that theater is so fun and unique, I think they will learn to appreciate it more.

Before I took this class, I knew a little about theater and relating it to my life. But thanks to this class, I can effectively say that I can relate theater to more than just one aspect of my life. I am very, very glad I took this class.