The lights dim, the crowd goes silent and one single spot light appears on stage.

The Theater II class performed “On Our Minds,” a collection of monologues created by the students. From student to student you felt their emotion as each student shared a pivotal moment in their lives.

The show was phenomenal. All of the students knew their lines and performed them with gusto. As I sat in my seat I heard one mom say “I can’t wait to see what my daughter chose to speak about,” and a sister who said she was proud of her little sister. So many of the seats were filled, many with anticipation to see what was to come.

The first student comes out she stands there for a second taking in the moment, then she starts to speak. She tells a story of how she grew to love theatre and how theatre was what made her who she was today. It was truly moving. Later a boy came up, a junior, whose name was Chase Tennyson appeared in center stage. He performed a monologue of a time when his cousin had passed away right in front of his eyes. The story was sad and inspirational, he ended it by telling everyone in the audience to not take life for granted. Several members of the audience had tears in their eyes and when he finished everyone applauded him.

It was amazing how the students became vulnerable on stage in order to perform and make the audience feel a part of the story. The performance was captivating and all the students were committed to the part they played. As each one would finish their monologue they would go back to their position and freeze.

At the end of the show they lined up in two rows and bowed to the audience. They ended in one single line across the stage, took one final bow and the curtain dropped and the lights came back on.