“Lights up!” calls Ms. Julia Davis, Theater Teacher and Dean of Student Voices, as my scene is on. In rehearsal for the middle school play, “Moriarty’s Daughters,” seventh and eighth grade students are no longer themselves.  I, Katarina, am no longer Katarina, but I am Helen Stoner, Simpson, Reporter 3, and Mr. Ferguson. 

Being in this fun and exciting play comes with some responsibility.  First, you have to show up for rehearsals, especially during Tech Week. That means less time to do homework, so I had to do my homework in study hall instead of playing games or scrolling. Second, I had to stay late for rehearsals and cancel plans that could conflict with Tech Week or performance dates. 

Even with all the responsibilities, I still loved being in this play.  The company was nice, and it was really fun to watch the choreography, especially in the fights. 

This specific play had a huge impact on me. It was my first and last play with Westridge, since I’m going to leave Westridge in eighth grade. I’ve always wanted to be in theater, and this was my chance.   

At first, when I got my roles, I was happy that I got in the play, but disappointed because I didn’t get the role I wanted. Soon after, I got another email. It read, “Hi Katarina, I was wondering if you wanted to take on another role, Mr. F?” I quickly got my script and found him. I was overjoyed! He looked like such a fun character to play. And he was! 

Being in the play requires a lot of work, yet it is worth it. The fun of theater is present in all the scenes I do, even in the ones I didn’t necessarily like. Theater is about acting, but most of all, having fun, and I’m going to have fun in all my scenes, no matter what they are.   

I’m going to make this play, my first and last play with Westridge, the best play ever. 

Opening night and all the other performances are now over, sadly. If you had to ask which performance was my favorite, I’d have to say opening night.  We did so well during opening night, and I felt like I had accomplished getting over my fear of the audience. Even though we had our ups and downs with our other performances, it was fun regardless. I wanted to leave behind a good experience with theater in this last year for me at Westridge, and I did, so I’m happy about that.