Day 1 IB Theatre

1. When I was in the theatre summer camp at Columbia, our final project was to write a 10-minute play in one night and rehearse in one day then perform it immediately in front of students from different projects. The task was so challenging that nobody believed we can make it at first. And that’s when we had the great idea that everyone should write down the kind of role that they wanted to act the most and we will include all of the roles in a comedic short play. I was a hippie low-key girl who seems annoying but actually the wittiest. The whole process was so memorable because everyone was so devoted and we didin’t sleep that night in order to rehearse. The final performance was really amazing even though there were still a lot of things that we can improve.
2. This summer, I went to a small village in a mountain in Yunnan to teach kids in elementary school Theatre. The children there have limited educational resources so they have never learned anything related to Theatre before. We were trying to rehearse a Chinese play written by Laoshe called Teahouse, and it’s about the history of China so it’s really beneficial for them to study. Those kids were all nervous because the whole thing was new to them. But after a few small theatre games they became really into it and were willing to start to rehearse for the play. I was astonished by their talents because everyone finished their parts perfectly which I didn’t expect before. During our final performance, every audience was surprised, and I was so moved by their devotion. However, I also felt mournful because I can’t imagine how successful they will be if they have enough educational resources.