Student Blog #12

by Guest Writer Jordan

When I first heard of Cleaning Closets I wasn't really interested in it. I did not have a very interesting coming out story, and I have always felt that your sexuality should not be made a big deal, it is merely a part of you. I define my sexuality, my sexuality does not define me, the saying goes.

    I was pushed into going to the writing workshop by a friend, and there is where saw what the project really was. This was when I got excited, yet nervous. “What if I am not good enough?” “What if he does not want to use my story?” “I am only a freshman, I don’t know these people, what if they don’t like me?” “What if I don’t fit in with the other actors?” These were all thoughts that were swimming through my head before the auditions.

    But now we are three weeks into rehearsal and I feel as though I have known this ensemble my whole life. We have become not just friends but close ones. We know each other’s stories and connect with each other on a level that I would never have imagined.

    The actual rehearsal process itself is very different than anything I have done before. I have been working in theatre for eleven years, and I thought I knew all about the different rehearsal processes. But this was something different. We weren’t just rehearsing and becoming better actors, we were writing. Writing our stories, watching others' stories, learning from each other’s experience and in turn becoming better people. Whether it was dancing to build our sense of openness with the ensemble or picking up my fellow actor and using her like a battering ram to break my way out of a pantomimed jail, everything we did had a lasting effect on me not only as an actor but as a person.

    I would like to thank Jonathan for bringing this wonderful program to Morehead State University and giving me this opportunity to learn and grow in this environment.