Life - SCSTA

This past month, I had the opportunity to travel with my school's theatre kids and compete at SCSTA. SCSTA, or South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association, has a festival competition each year. This year, it was held at Newberry College, so we all piled into Mrs. DeVault and TJ Ellis's vehicles and "boogied on down the road" to get there.

It's pretty simple what SCSTA actually is. The real question is "What is SCSTA to me?" So I think back on that Saturday:

I didn't know what I was getting myself into: part of me was afraid that I wouldn't be allowed to go. With such actors as Rebecca Pearson and TJ Fisher in one's group, one tends to be overwhelmed. Fortunately, I was not the only one going for the first time. We had at least 4 people with us that hadn't gone before.

My pieces were two monologues performed for the "audition monologue" category. I was initially expecting to perform on some stage, in front of at least a moderate crowd. However, most of the activities were held in small classrooms, some the same size as ones here at Erskine! That was actually a point I really liked. Being close up to the actors made the experience more personal. For instance, when I watched duet acting during the first round, one group used a table and chairs, and addressed both sides of the tables surrounding them. There was even a splash zone for that scene! (Well, a thrown glass, but still...) One group even asked for feedback on their performance. (Although, maybe that was a bit much like aiding the enemy? Anyway, it felt nice to be helpful.)

During the second round, I went to audition monologues for my performance. Our group had about 4-5 people, and ended rather early. I wasn't as intimidated as I thought I was going to be.

Without going into extensive, dull details, the rest of the day was pretty nice, too. They had karaoke while the judges made their decisions, and Erskine walked away with 5 trophies.

SCSTA was a learning experience for me. One thing I could say is that determined minors and amateurs can beat professor-compelled majors any day. However, that goes without saying. More importantly, though, SCSTA was a real opportunity to enjoy theatre with many other people, even people who aren't going into it as a profession. Being at theatre at Erskine is nice (Getting lead roles is actually a possibility for me here!) but there's only so many of us here. Seeing so many other people at SCSTA was great. It's all about the shared experience in theatre.

That is what SCSTA is to me: a common experience; sharing the joy of theatre and speech.