Playing Pretend

A few weeks into the school year Phoebe decided she wanted to audition for the middle school play, a one-act called Boxes. She memorized a monologue and we worked on it to get her ready to try out. She insisted that I walk into the school with her and wait in the hall while she auditioned. There were several other kids there trying out. They chatted and laughed while they waited. Phoebe ran through her audition piece over and over and over instead of visiting.

A few days later she was shocked to learn that she'd been cast as the antagonist, the second largest role in the show.

She's had rehearsals a few days a week after school ever since. And she's spent a lot of time worrying about her ability to perform the role the way the director wanted. She was concerned that all the other kids were getting notes on things to change, but she wasn't. Phoebe was concerned that the teacher wasn't correcting her because she didn't want to hurt her feelings. She had a hard time believing that it was because there was nothing to correct.

Tonight was opening night and our family went to support Phoebe. She was AMAZING! She played a mean, bitter character with a lot of trauma. In other words, someone very different from who she is in real life. And she was so natural and believable on stage. Her performance was so powerful that I teared up at the end. It was a joy to watch her act!