WSD 2013: Waking From A Dream
Warning: This post will probably start out with some amount of quality and be a great summary of one of the best experiences of my life. I don't know how quickly, but it will devolve into a whole lot of feels. But it needs to happen, part of dealing with my emotional hangover.
When I headed to Wales, I expected to learn a few things about theatre (ok a lot of things), do some travelling and fangirling, make something awesome happen, hear a lot of accents, make some new friends, and come back with some great stories.
All of that happened, and all at a magnitude I would never have anticipated. I'm still dealing with what can only be called an emotional hangover of the worst kind, and only an experience as amazing as the one I just had would bring that on (and convince me to get my master's degree there while looking at hardly any other programs =P).
From the theatre aspect of it, working on World Stage Design has done so much more than add a really great credential to my CV. While it looks great that I can say I was an assistant to the construction manager and venue stage manager, I also know that I can learn and adapt to new situations incredibly fast. I can be thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool and swim. After the last year I had in my program, I had some serious doubts as to my place and skills in theatre production, but they are completely erased now. I held my own amongst some people who have had way more training than me, and I even taught some people some things. I was one of the first people called upon for any skilled or difficult task, I was trusted to do important jobs with little to no supervision, and I managed one of the most tricky venues since there was an exhibition going on alongside get-ins, get-outs, and performances for a brand new theatre company every day. A year ago I wasn't sure I would have been up to the challenge. Now it's just another day at work. And looking back at what I accomplished, I feel pretty great.
-built a brand new theatre from scratch
-added a mezzanine level to an existing theatre
-managed 4 different theatre companies/performances in 5 days with only 2 days of planning beforehand
-became part of the exhibition AV team and learned to fix technical problems on the fly
Now for the emotional and sentimental part. Doing all that work meant little to no time sightseeing or travelling, and a whole lot of time with the same group of people. A month ago, knowing that would have made me a little sad, since I had hoped to roam all over Wales. But now, I'm so glad that wasn't the case. For I met some truly amazing people and every minute I spent with them enriched my life and taught me so much about myself. I'm an extrovert and a natural people person, but I'm still not used to getting so close to people in such a short amount of time. My life has enough rough patches to rival some of the most ridiculous soap operas and it makes for a rather weird internal set-up inside my head. But I guess the combination of some genuinely caring people who could always make me laugh and smile, combined with the common purpose of creating something monumental in the world of theatre and seeing each other every day for a month leads to some incredibly strong relationships. I try to think back to when it started and I actually can't remember. I know I only met them a month ago but it feels like we've been friends for years if not my entire life. I can't picture life without them now yet a month ago that was the case. It's a mind-boggling scenario and something I never thought would happen to me. But I'm so glad it did.
So when you add all these things together: wonderfully tight-knit friends, having a purpose every day, feeling important and special, creating something memorable, and being in a beautiful city away from many of the worries and stresses of your everyday life back home, you get an experience that you can't re-create. But it's one that changes your life forever.
I'll say it again, and this isn't said lightly, working on World Stage Design 2013 has been the highlight of my life. Congratulations to everyone else involved in the creation of this event, it was a hell of a ride and we did some amazing things. And to all the people who made it so wonderful (you all know who you are), thank you from the bottom of my heart. Each one of you has altered some small part of me to my very core (like that performance in my venue where certain soundscapes changed my genetic code. No I'm not kidding that was a thing that happened). I've never had trouble leaving people before. I know that if they're important to me and I'm important to them we'll find each other again and keep in touch. But this is the first time where the thought of that maybe, the indiscernible amount of time before that happens again, has actually hurt. That being said, I'm so glad to have every one of you as a part of my life and great memory.
There's really so much more to it than that. It's just hard to put into words. And it would only get cheesier and cheesier. But I think you get the point.
So Prague 2015 everyone? I'm not sure I can ever top World Stage Design 2013. Doesn't mean I can't try. =P
