Theater: A Hopeless Cause?

I love acting. I really do. I could sit for hours memorizing a script, or doing improvisation activities. I never get stage fright, rather, I become ecstatic before a show. In English, we studied Shakespeare, and I absolutely loved it. This is due to three things:


1. Shakespeare has always been one of my favorite topics. I love the imaginative plays, and was delighted to find out we were going to read Macbeth. Usually high-schoolers read Shakespeare, but my sixth grade honors class thought differently.

2. We got to preform a scene of our choice from the book! Ours was from Act IV scene i. For those of you aren't obsessed with the Bard, it's when Macbeth goes back to visit the witches. It was unlike anything I've ever done before. I played the part of Macbeth, and we spent two weeks memorizing lines, designing costumes, bringing in props and makeup, and making digital sets. The day of the performance, my group and I were ready, lines inscribed into our brains, clothed in our Shakespearean wardrobe, ready to preform our show complete with music, dancing, sound effects, and a large variety of props. I loved it.

3. I was in a group with four of my best friends. Not only did it make the whole experience much more fun, but I knew I could trust them to do their part.



With the combination of those three things, I had more fun on Shakespeare than I had on any other unit I ever did for a subject. Since you see my passion for drama, you might be thinking, "Go on, Mona! Be an actress!" But I can't.

The reason is because I can't sing. Well, I can, but not very well. If you read my profile, you already know music isn't my thing. So many productions involve singing and music, and I just can't do that. Most Disney actors and actresses go on to release albums. It's impossible to have a successful acting career without being a good singer.

I tried out for the school musical. In the past, they've done a fall play and a spring musical. But this year, all we got was the musical. I rocked the acting part of the audition, with the judges happily scribbling notes and commenting through their smiles. But then came the singing.

I missed the beginning of the song, hit all the wrong notes, and my voice sounded like sandpaper. I walked from the auditorium in defeat. I wasn't going to get the part. Sure enough, I was absent from the cast list posted a week later. It had me down for a while, but then I realized something.

I can't be good at everything. Like my mom always tells me, I'm a ten-talent girl. God blessed me with intelligence, athletic ability, artistic skill, a loving family, and a passion for so many things. So what if I'm not musical? I need to be grateful for all the other talents I have. The fire of passion for acting still burns, a little less brightly than before, but it still lights up my heart. And I have my own dream to follow, my writing dream. With some art on the side.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter to me whether I become a star on the big screen or never get into the school play. I have other things to do, other things to worry about. I won't let a little bump called singing stop me in the road of life. I can be whoever I want to be, whether it involves acting or not.