I'm a drama queen.
I'll admit it, it's been said before. Heck, I even said I was one myself in my 'Fifty Facts About Me' post (check my archives for that). However, the funny thing is, I don't find being called a drama queen an insult. In fact, I take it as a compliment. Because Drama is one of my true passions, one of my favourite subjects and I'm proud to tell anyone who'll listen how much I love acting and performing.
Before I started my secondary school, I wasn't quite sure who I was as a person or what I was good at, not really. I was a massive bookworm and I'd always assumed that English was my true calling (I do still love English, by the way). I'd never really experienced the breath of subjects in my junior school that would allow me to find something I loved. Then I found Drama.
There was something about Drama, even in Year Seven, that engaged me in a way no other subject could. I looked forward to every single lesson. My mood was instantly lifted if I knew I had Drama next period. I thrived in class, putting my hand up for everything and researching extra outside of lessons to improve my knowledge (I know, I was a nerd). And, the most miraculous thing: I was good at it. Really flumping good, if I do say so myself. I found it so easy to step out of my shoes and into those of a completely fictional person. I loved working with my friends to create works of art. I enjoyed choosing costumes and props for our pieces. And the best part, my favourite part about Drama, was watching the audience as they watched us. Watching their faces glow with delight and wonder at the spectacle being put on for them. Watching as they were swept away with the story, the performance, the characters. Enjoying seeing them delight in what I created, because I too remembered the pure joy of watching something truly captivating, be it in the cinema or theatre.
And so the obsession began...
When it came to Year Eight and we had to make exam choices, I wasted no time in choosing an intense one year Drama choice for the next year. As a result, Year Nine was the BEST year. I had Drama every single day. I created monologues, wrote scripts, mimed, devised, laughed, learned, and got three Distinctions in three separate qualifications in my exams at the end of the year.
Year Nine went by in a flash, and I chose Drama again for Year Ten and Eleven, to continue my love into GCSE form. Two years of hard work but great progression followed, in which I learned to push myself as an actor, explore more psychologically challenging content, think outside the box in terms of experimenting with different theatrical styles as opposed to pure naturalism. And, with some great people, I worked intensively to perform a twenty-minute group piece of drama based on a challenging script, and got an A grade overall.
Fast forward a year, and here I am, a Year Twelve, doing (what else?) Drama A Level, and loving every bloomin' second of it. It takes real dedication, believe me, and utter commitment (nowadays I seem to live in the Drama studio, rehearsing, devising, planning college performances and events). There's a lot of responsibility that comes with being one of only four A Level students in the school, and subsequently one of the oldest Drama students in the school. But it's fab. I can't express to you how much I am still loving becoming someone else, if only for a little while, and performing to audiences. I have a great Drama class; the lack of size means that we've become really good friends, to the point where we feel more like a family than an A Level group. All my fellow students are flippin' good actors, which helps more than a little, and they're wonderful people too, people whom I might not have necessarily grown close to if we didn't share a love of Drama. Just another reason why I love the subject.
So I'm laughing hysterically, crying on command, visiting the theatre and making furious notes, drafting essays, practising performances, writing monologues, selling tickets for events, organising trips. But most importantly, I'm acting. And I couldn't be happier doing it.
Olivia x
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