Working With Zest Theatre!

Working with a professional theatre company itself was an absolute honour, and an amazinv opportunity that I took full advantage of! We had met zest breifly the first time last year, we did a small workshop, a few games and they all seemed to be a very polite, professional and inclusive bunch! It was a thrill to see an actual theatre corporation in action, and was a relief to see they werent as devoid of emotion that I have heard others be like. Our workshop included sitting in a circle and collecting ideas and quotes, we all had our own opinion about the world, where it is, how weve grown up and what we would like to see change! It was our job to express those in front of one another and a select few of our statements ended up being put on signs around stockton! They even hinted about using our talks as inspiraton for characters in their upcoming play! 

The next time we met Zest months later, it was over zoom call! They had provided us with a copy of their written script entitled: Camp Pheonix. It was an enjoyable read, yet while reading it I realised I didnt really connect with any of the characters, i feel this is because they were all written off the back of real people. While the characters were interesting in nature, I did slightly find this counterproductive in the fact of helping new actors connect with specific characters. The play itself was enjoyable to read through, however, and i read the part as lez! 

The next year, we met up with Zest to finally put the show together! With constant rehearsals for two weeks we managed to learn the full show quite easily! I, myself didnt have any lines so i found it enjoyable to play with who i was and what my character actually was. I decided i would make him into the 'too cool for this' kid, and portrayed this through how he walked, talked and developed him to become more friendly and acceptive as the show went on. We did workshops every weekday which included games, workouts, character development sessions and much more. I felt pushed to thrive and took ever opportunity to do so. However, throughout one of the dances before the show, i had strained myself and hurt my back badly, this made me miss two days of rehearsal but luckily i had already learned everything by then. When i returned, it was the day before the first show and i spent the full day fine tuning everything we had learned the previous days. 

On show day itself i made sure i was fully prepared and i made sure i showed it. I went all out for our choreographed performances and wanted to show everyone that although i was injured i would not let it affect the show. However, during my going all out of the cabaret scene, i had re injured my back and torn open the muscles once more, i played on with the rest of the show as if nothing was wrong but i was experiencing intense pain throughout every moment. I believe the shows i have done and the preparation beforehand allowed me to carry on with a level of confidence that i could finish the show. 

I did indeed finish the show and had to take an extensive sit down afterwards. Im proud of my performance, but afterwards i was mostly unable to move without pain, this left me mostly paralysed the next day, and i was unable to complete or make it to the second show. I felt bad that i had done so much preparation to only be in one show but after a talk with Zest, they agreed that i should put my health first and that the work i had done showed my dedication.

Im happy that i went through this experience, im no longer injured and i take away a lesson. Im always looking to improve and i certainly believe this experience has left me for the better.