The Tales of a Student Director

My journey as a student director started in August. I was sent a Google Classroom code from a friend and was told to join. I knew that the show was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and had read the book over the summer, but nothing could have prepared me for the wonderful journey I was about to embark on. That very day, I sent an email containing a presentation I had made containing all of my ideas for student directing and a quick thank you.

Like everyone else, I had to audition for the show, despite wanting to be student director. I found a group and aced my audition, sitting on the floor as I watched them perform the monologues I helped them perfect and become the characters I helped them develop. An odd feeling of pride filled my chest. That feeling became common over the next 8 weeks.

Convincing Mrs. Scully and Mr. Quinlan to let me be the student director turned out to be the easy part. When the first rehearsal rolled around, I felt oddly nervous. It hadn’t hit me until then that I would be jumping into a completely new experience headfirst. I have known almost everyone in the cast for years, but I still worried about what they would think of me. Turns out, they thought I was pretty cool.

My duties changed each day, but they normally consisted of writing down everyone’s blocking, labeling each box with what prop belonged inside of it, giving notes on acting choices, and putting bandaids on scratched fingers. I led different games at the beginning of rehearsal, but my favorite games were always the ones we played on Fridays. On Fridays, I took the time to ask each person about their week. Everyone would share the things that made them smile, laugh, and cry. It was during these personal moments that the proud feeling would creep back up.

Over time, we became closer and considered ourselves a sort of family; especially since we saw each other more than we saw our own families. We laughed all the time, texted constantly in our group chat, and took weird pictures of one another. We are all friends and everything felt natural. I loved just getting to talk and form genuine connections with everyone. The show itself was fairly heavy, so getting to just be teenagers around each other made it a little more palatable.

Getting to work with Mr. Quinlan and Mrs. Scully in the creative process of the show was an absolute dream. I helped extremely talented actors show off their talents best. I worked with a funny, stubborn stage crew who are some of the most hard working people I've met. I quickly became the liaison between the groups, able to blend in with both.

By the time the performances rolled around, I knew my job was complete. All I could do was sit back and enjoy the show. I watched anxiously, but both cast and crew managed to nail everything. They were well rehearsed and they knew their lines. Certain lines made me laugh each time they were said. It was incredible to watch them grow so much over a span of eight weeks. As I watched them perform, the proud feeling was there.

They had put on a beautiful show and it was such an honor to bow with them one last time. Both cast and crew taught me more about patience, hard work, and determination than I ever could've shown them. I would like to thank Mrs. Scully and Mr. Quinlan for taking a leap of faith on me. I would also like to thank the cast and crew for being so welcoming and wonderful, remember that you are all my stars.