This is an essay I was required to write for my ENGL1101 class. The requirements were to write a double-space 3-page essay about an event and describe it in detail. I focused mainly on my own feelings during these events.
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My sophomore year at my second high school was highly eventful. You see, I was in the theatre program at my school. I made some of the best friends of my life by being involved in Berkmar High School’s theatre program, and spent a lot of time developing my skills and communing with souls had the same goal. Each and every one of us wanted to entertain audiences with our skills and talent, especially if it meant taking one of the main roles in a show.
I was so excited the day of the audition for the upcoming play. Since I had worked with the director before, I knew how the audition would proceed. All the hopefuls would sit in a semi-circle on the well-worn, paint-splattered stage, and each be handed the precious script. The director would settle at a table in the middle facing us, her stage manager at her right taking notes. She wouldn’t smile or reassure us; we barely got a greeting before it began. The director explained the play. It was called Small Wonder, and it was a comedy based in a fantasy kingdom called Lilliput on an uncharted island in the middle of nowhere. It was a cute idea, and I knew the character I wanted to be. It was my desire to be Princess Norma! I was also marginally interested in the characters of the Ambassador and the Queen.
The director started from the right of the semi-circle, but of course I was almost at the end of the left. We went through role after role in the same order; I skipped the male parts unless she indicated that it would be fine if played by a female, and did my best as the other parts rolled around. I did my finest Hollywood producer voice, sounding self-important and professional, and my most convincing hillbilly, making sure to twang in all the right places, and a ditzy back-up singer; though I wasn’t exactly sure how they were supposed to sound. Finally it came time to audition for Princess Norma. I was excited! I made my voice sound soft and regal for the few lines I spoke, infusing the very essence of what I knew to be a perfect princess. When I finished I looked up at the director and smiled charmingly. She didn’t notice. As soon as the auditions had begun, they were over! She told us to expect the cast list by the end of the week.
The rest of the week seemed to go by slowly. My fellow theatre students and I gossiped to each other about who would get what part. No one thought I would be Princess Norma. They chose a friend of mine that had been a princess in the play last year. It was the same play in which I had been a nursemaid. I thought that this time the casting would be different. I cast my best friend as the Queen, myself as the Princess, and so on until the perfect cast list was stuck in my head, as I cheered myself on until that Friday evening. After school let out, we all waited outside of the theatre to see our director post the list. As if she was in a very special ceremony, she came out with the important piece of paper in her hand, tape already attached. We tried our best to see the names on the list instead of waiting for her to post it. She walked slowly, seeming to enjoy the tension and suspense we were all experiencing. One of my more easily excited friends had actually begun to sweat! The director delicately stuck the paper to the wall and made sure it was secure, then as if she could predict what would happen, quickly stepped away. We immediately rushed at the door.
“Yes! I’m the Princess!” Those words stopped my heart momentarily. They didn’t come out of my mouth, how could this have happened? I said every word perfectly and precisely and princess-like, and I still didn’t get the part? I saw the girl who was a princess last year turn away from the list, smiling proudly. Or course it was her, the director’s favorite little princess. I was fuming. What two-bit part was I this time? A waitress with one-line? A nameless woman that died in the very first scene? A younger girl grabbed my hand and congratulated me on my part. I was confused. Why did I deserve congratulations? What could be as great as the princess? I nudged the others out of the way and looked at the cast list. I was the Queen! I barely remembered auditioning for that role, but a Queen was better than a princess any day!
That was the first time I had every landed a role that was large and memorable. It was the role of a very funny old woman who ruled an entire kingdom. That night, I counted the lines I had. There were over fifty. I was overjoyed and set myself to memorize them right away. Incidentally, this character did die in the very first scene!
"Call Me Faye" 