I was definitely living the dream. A scary, fantastic, wonderful dream. I’ve
always wanted to work as an actor professionally, and with And then They
Came for Me, I got that chance.
The people I worked with were amazing. At first it felt very formal and I
was a little nervous, but before long everyone in the cast and crew began to
get to know each other so we all became good friends. There was a lot of love
in our group, and we all accepted and grew with each other throughout the
process.
The show was tough not only emotionally, but also with the aspect of the
staging. It was a very different sort of play because of all of the media
interviews with Holocaust survivors Eva Schloss and Ed Silberberg. Their
interviews would come in during scenes, which was very different for me. Also,
the play’s scenes don’t exactly flow. We, the actors, enter in the middle of
scenes, so the scenes wouldn’t always get a chance to build. We would have to
enter, already at the climactic point or the lowest point in the scene- also
something entirely new to me.
The other youth actors and I also had to keep up with all of our
homework without actually attending the classes. I was lucky enough to have an
amazing friend who videotaped my classes for me, so I was able to keep up. We
had to maintain our grades and leadership positions in school, and Zoë and I
were both participating in our school musicals. The stress of the schoolwork
only added to our emotions during the show, so in a way it was sort of helpful.
All in all, I know that this experience has helped me to grow. It was an
amazing theatrical and emotional experience, and I met some amazing people that
I am not likely to forget. I only hope I get the opportunity to return to the
IRT so that I can have more amazing experiences there. I can only learn more
each time.