Stage Fright - Original Essay I waited tensely behind the stage curtain, reciting my lines as if my life depended on it. Who was I kidding? My life did depend on it. If I failed here then all of my dignity would shatter like a bullet on glass. There was one, rather insignificant consolation, the blatant expressions on the other kids' faces portrayed that they were just as apprehensive as I. My eyes were glued to my script as if magnetically attracted to it. I desperately tried to focus, but it was futile because people already on stage insisted on saying their lines: it drove me insane. "You sure you're okay?" asked my instructor. She placed her hand on my shoulder; comfortingly. I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay." I replied whilst exhaling. "Alright, good boy." she said and continued her rounds. She stopped to talk with a little girl, younger than I named Francesca. I myself however, was a mere six years old at the time. I glanced over. Francesca seemed possibly even more terrified than even I was. She turned towards me also and I managed to muster a pleasant smile and an encouraging thumbs-up. She replied with a giggly grin, lowered her head and shuffled around sheepishly in the direction of the big black curtain. She was obviously rather shy, I also noticed that she looked so innocent in her bright pink outfit. I too; faced the curtain, half wanting it to retract so I could finally rid myself of this peculiar adrenaline of anxiety that was forcing my heart into the deepest bowels of my gut. On the other hand, I half wanted it to simply never open, for fear of the consequences of it doing so. I hazarded a... ... middle of paper ... ...ing along) trudged along to the far-side of the room. A few minutes later, we all had to go on stage together to bow for the audience to mark the end of the performance. Luckily, as we went out, Michael was a good distance away. We all put our hands together, and produced a magnificent bow, which was greeted with rapturous applause. I caught a glimpse of my mum and dad, and my face lit up. Once the performance was over, I got my stuff together and ran out to see my mum and dad, I found them and charged up to them, they greeted me with open arms. "Good job!" my dad said (he appeared very proud), and ruffled my hair. "I'll look forward to next year's!" my mum assured. "Yeah, me too." I murmured, and as we trotted out of the theater, I looked back and noticed Francesca, all smiles with her parents. THE END
One of the most controversial topics of the century hinges on one simple question: What makes the world go round? Most will jump to say money. Some will argue in favor of their religion. Others will point out scientific facts. The truth is, none are correct. One emotion, one aspect of life shines above the others, extending its light on merely half of our beloved globe, leaving the other semi-circle to deal with pitch black: fear. To understand its impact, society’s definition of fear must be perceived. Fear is officially defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something dangerous will harm him/her. However, with his classic novel, Alan Paton shows that it extends far beyond that. An old man by the name of Stephen Kumalo leaves the comfort of his tribe in Ndotsheni, and embarks on a
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
... to do next while the others glanced occasionally at the show. I bounced around for the entire song before I stopped and then gave a bow.
Anxiety is defined as a diffuse, internal, loose floating tension that doesn’t have a real danger or an external object. There is also a significant difference from the notion of fear. Fear usually has an outer object (a real fear of a snake, height or an unreal fear, when the danger is just imagined). Anxiety does not have an external object or external danger but has an internal danger. Internal danger can be some intrapsychic conflict, impulse unacceptable to the ego, suppressed thoughts, etc.
The word fear makes my mind draw a blank. I am trying to make sense of it but I can not, at least not for everyone. It is a word that is left up to a person’s digression. It almost seems unfair to have a clear cookie-cutter definition of what it is. The word is too broad to be sectioned off by one definition.
Phobias have been in existence for many years. As humans we fear things that are life threatening and unnatural. Someone who has an irrational fear of something is considered a phobia, which is an extreme illogical fear or dislike of something. Fear is a very common emotion which distinguishes from phobia regarding the severe distress someone with a phobia goes through. Fear is a rationalized and instinctive emotion that comes in response to a threatening situation. The reaction caused by fear can be managed. Phobias can hinder someone’s life. People who struggle with phobias constantly avoid the object of fear, and will do anything required not to see it. It’s hard to directly to clearly figure out the cause regarding
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
College is hard, scary, and stressful especially with children involved. I think it is a good thing I went to college when I did otherwise, I would be stuck in the same minimum wage job that I have had for the past year. It is going to be hard and stressful but the truth is that were all scared. It is just a matter of pushing myself into getting where I want to be. My main fear with college is mainly flunking out, it is scary but, it is also achievable. I thought to myself, “Hey, if my best friend can go to college then why I can I not”. There was three things that pushed me into going to college. Those are: getting a better job so I can spoil my children, continuing my education, and to be a role model for my children.
How has public speaking become so feared? “In a study [of 9,000 people] that concentrated on fears in a social situation, their top ranking fears were public speaking, speaking up in class, meeting new people, talking to people of authority, important exams or interviews, going to parties and talking to strangers”(Lucas, 2012, pg. 9). This question has always perplexed me, because I too suffer from a fear of speaking in public. But after reading chapter one of The Art of Public Speaking, I understand now that it is a blend of different subjects that make public speaking seem so unappealing. Stephen Lucas opens this chapter on the power of public speaking, by saying “Throughout history people have used public speaking as a vital means of
Since 1877, American politics and society have been influenced by fear. This fear came from a lot of ways, for example: foreign culture and also from American. After the Reconstruction of the south of America, after slavery, the northern and the Southern became more and more close. By the United States unification, America met a lot of events that made people felt fear when America society had development and became strong, like Communism power, effect of atomic weapons.
When you think of emotions you think of the classic, sadness, happiness, and madness. The one people often forget is the emotion of anxiety. Anxiety is one of the only emotions that you can have and actually not show it. Anxiety itself is very strange, depending on who you are, and how your brain works, anything can cause it . Anxiety usually follows you throughout your life but for some people, it changes as you change and grow. You aren 't the same height as you were when you were 6, you grew. There’ s a chance that the anxiety you encounter works the same way. Some classic emotions remain the same throughout your life for the most part, but anxiety as a tendency to morph.
When it came to the chorus, Dave stopped singing and everyone in the room, sung the chorus back. I felt the unity with everyone in that room, although I hardly knew any of them. The song ended with a sigh. The night is over. Dave thanked us and smiled.
Death is a difficult subject for many people. The topic alone can cause a lot of anxiety because of all the things we don’t know. Most of us fear death for many reasons. Whether it’s your final day, or a final moment with a loved one, it’s a painfully scary process because of its uncertainty.
The term social phobia is described by the presence of anxiety or tendency to experience excessive fear while social interaction is present. Social avoidance is also described as a combination of syndromes performing in a person perceived as embarrassment. The anxiety in the individuals experiencing this type of phobia is cause by the tendency of exaggeration in self-evaluations , having a negative perception of themselves based of their own negative judge. The tendency of being self-critical is lead by fear during social interaction or even during intrapersonal situations. The anticipation of anxiety and fear is often part of a vicious cycle in which persons experience a physical symptom such as blushing, palpitations , sweating, avoiding eye contact and trembling (Heimberg, 1995). However, some persons with social phobia report no physical symptoms of anxiety only self-consciousness and fear.
Theatre as we know it now was born more than two thousand years ago and has gone through many streams until it reached the current modernity. Among these streams is the avant-garde theatre. This theatre achieved a break in the traditional theatre and became the forefront of a new experimental theatre. Therefore it is necessary to ask how this theatre started, what impact it had on society and if this type of theatre is still common in our modern era.