Told you I ramble!

One of the only things that sucks about studying theatre is that as a theatre scholar you don't always command a lot of respect. I cannot tell you how many times in my life I've told people I major in theatre and had their first response be something along the lines of "Oh awesome, that must be so much fun" followed closely by, "But what are you going to do with that?" Or, more often, they don't really say anything at all but I can tell what they're thinking. I usually just laugh it off, and if I'm in a good mood I'll explain all the various things you can do with a theatre degree. That question doesn't annoy me much anymore. What does annoy me, though, is when we theatre people don't get credit for all of the things we've accomplished. I graduated college summa cum laude, and as proud as that makes me its slightly tainted by the fact that I know there are people out there who will look at my degree and think, "Well, of course she did, she studied theatre. How hard can it be?" Well, let me just say here in this public forum that it can be HARD. Perhaps its difficult in a different way than a business or law degree is difficult, but hell, if it were that easy everyone would be graduating theatre departments with honors and they're not. No, it's not quantum physics. But I like to think that if that were my passion and that was what I'd chosen to devote my resources to, I would have graduated summa cum laude in that, too. That's beside the point, though, plus it's making me sound like a bragging ass so I'll stop. My point is, theatre has its own challenges and it's unfair to assume that all we theatre people do is lie around on the floor practicing breathing exercises and learning how to make ourselves up to look 75 years old (and anyone doing theatre realizes that even those things can be challenging in their own way).
Ever since starting graduate school I've realized more than ever exactly how underrated we really are. Theatre is such an incredibly broad field, and it's so interdisciplinary. To really understand theatre you have to have a very good grasp on a staggering amount of other subjects. I was thinking about this in my Contemporary World Theatre class tonight as we were discussing all the various feminist theories that influenced theatre in the '60s and '70s. To fully understand theatre it's not enough to just understand acting methods, directing methods, stagecraft, lighting and set and costume and makeup design, the roles of all the people that work front and back of the house, different theatre genres and styles of plays, play writing, and theatre history. Although that alone is enough to keep anybody busy for a lifetime. No, you also have to have a context of world history because you can never really understand a play unless you know why it was written when it was. You have to know philosophy (My God, do you have to know philosophy. This semester has definitely been a crash course in philosophy for me). You have to know psychology and attempt to understand why people act the way they do. You have to have a damn good working knowledge of English. And art history? You'd better know a lot about that as well. To understand any musical you obviously need to know music, and while we're on that subject let's not forget about dance. Oh, and understanding politics-and not just the politics of the United States-is a necessity. And sociology and anthropology...There are few other subjects I can think of that draw so directly on so many other subjects. I remember being a freshman and laughing about how Doc, the head of our theatre department, seemed to be able to have an intelligent discussion about almost any subject you could throw at him. Suddenly, I understand why!
It's enough to overwhelm me into a complete and total stupor. Then again, it makes me realize that there is no way this could ever, ever get old. Not with how much there is to discover. I suppose it's possible I'll burn out for other reasons, but never from boredom!

I should be studying for a Drama Research test and outlining my paper, but I've been having a hard time getting myself to study the past two weeks. It's hard for me to be truly productive unless I'm under pressure, but that's the case with most people, isn't it? I can't think of a single person I know who isn't for the most part a procrastinator.

In non-school related news, it's suddenly wedding madness around here! Within the past six weeks one of my good friends got married and four more got engaged (two of them to each other, so there have been three announced engagements total). And I'm expecting yet another engagement announcement from a friend sometime in the near future. It may end up being the Summer O' Weddings, and probably not the only Summer O' Weddings I'll end up having in the next few years, either. I guess I need to get serious about coming to terms with the fact that I am old enough to have friends that get married (and multiple friends that get married at that!). Actually, I'm really excited about it. I love weddings, mainly because I'm not old and jaded enough yet to have that "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" feeling. Any excuse to have a big party is fine by me! I'm especially excited about Katy's wedding. We went through so much together in our four years as roommates, and now I couldn't be happier for her. She's one of my very best friends in the entire world, and I really like the guy she's marrying, too (and let's be honest, how often does that happen?). Katy asked me to be in her bridal party tonight, and I accepted happily. I just hope this means I get to help throw the bachelorette party! Hehehe.

Oh, FYI, I'm going up to Fort Worth for the weekend. Technically I'm visiting for Kymberli's birthday, but it just so happens to be homecoming weekend at TCU so I guess it's sort of appropriate that I chose this weekend to go back and see everybody. This will probably be the last chance I get to see anyone in Fort Worth this semester (unless anyone comes down here) so if you're in Fort Worth we need to hang out.