Vaiva Zokaitė -
CAS
has never been about collecting the hours or doing something that has to be
done just because somebody says so. The idea which, I believe, all IB students
at this point can agree on is to combine having a great time and getting out of
your comfort zone, as well as discovering hidden talents. This is what we had
in mind when we started putting up posters of “Bang Bang You’re Dead” play
auditions on the walls of Didzdvaris Gymnasium and figuring out a plan.
A
friend of mine, Zivile Matjusaityte (IB1), once randomly suggested to direct a
play at our school. She already had experience working on some plays in Hawaii,
so did I – both acting and directing. Without waiting much longer, we talked to
some people at Didzdvaris Gymnasium who gave out the permission to carry out
the plan to direct this controversial and thought-provoking play without
hesitations.
It
wasn’t too long before we gathered a team of charismatic, fluent English
speakers who were adventurous enough to try themselves out in the field of theater
or just revive their acting skills. We were all eager to begin taking this
bumpy road, which at first appeared a piece of cake to most.
We
started meeting several times a week in a classroom after school, just reading
out the script of “Bang Bang You’re Dead” out loud. The actors were assigned
the task of learning their lines within the first month or so, which, of
course, was way easier to say than to do. This appeared to be one of the
biggest problems we encountered and it seemed as if we were not getting
anywhere closer to our goals. However, slowly but surely, we all started
overcoming these obstacles and moving forward, as well as getting closer to
each other. At that point we started understanding how important the process is
– being scattered and unconfident were the main things holding us back. Even as
things were starting to get better, problems would find their way back –we could
barely fit into the time frame, there were thoughts of delaying the premiere
and so on. The lesson we learned here was how important confidence, teamwork
and proper organization are. We often had to encourage each other not to lose
the motivation, which was our key to success.
The
week before the premiere of the play, which is often called “hell week” was not
too big of a hell after all. We seemed to have gone through the roughest
patches, the lines had been memorized, and nobody made excuses or missed the
rehearsals. Zivile and I had the job of deciding where and what time we will be
ready to let others see and feel what we had been working so hard on for the
past several months, what the audience should look like and run all the
possible scenarios in our heads.
The
time had come. Thankfully, we had all the support from our teachers and school
administrators to show it to some of the students of Didzdvaris Gymnasium
during classes. After that, we have been given a hall in the Siauliai Art
Gallery and performed to the closest people – friends, family members and such.
Both performances happened on the same day and we had never felt closer to each
other and more accomplished. We had not imagined the audience, especially at
our school, would be so concentrated, serious and understanding during the
play. The moment we saw how moved some people were and how much they appreciated
our dedication and the actors’ talent, we knew our hard work had paid off.
After
having the summer to slow down, we’re not ready to stop - we’re back at work.
There have been some minor challenges already, but this only shows there’s
still a lot of room for improvement. At this moment, with the help of out
English teacher Alla Chvostova, we are getting ready to give our very best to a
school in Panevezys. We have planned a bit more than that, but only time can
tell what is possible and how much further we will go, especially with the
majority of us being seniors. This year we are striving for a performance more
polished and professional, as well as hoping to learn even more not only about
theater, but about ourselves, too.
 |
| The last rehearsal before the big play. |
 |
| The crew after an outstanding performance |
