Put On a Happy Face: First Thoughts

When I started going to college, Theater was the last thing on my mind. Fast forward to today, and pretty soon I'll be sitting in auditions for a play that I wrote. It's kind of surreal, definitely exciting, and just a bit scary. I'm looking forward to every step of the way.

The original idea for Put On a Happy Face actually came from a writing exercise for a short-story class during my sophomore year. I wanted to address the idea that sometimes we as people aren't genuinely happy, and that the niceties we present can feel forced and unnatural. I used sci-fi to create a more externalized version of this, but abandoned the project after the class since I wasn't too invested in it. Now that it's about to be put onstage, I'm wondering how much of what I wrote is going to resonate with people, since it presents an uncomfortable take on reality.

Going into the process, it's great to have a director who is enthused about my work. Samantha seems really excited, and shared a couple ideas for a 1950's inspired future, as well as some music choices that fit almost eerily well. I'm sure that whatever is decided on will be great, but having someone this willing to collaborate is awesome.

That being said, some edits to the script need to be made. While I got valuable feedback from one last in-class read through, it saddens me to finally have to let go of the infamous "pancakes for dinner" gag perpetuated since the beginning of the term. Seeing go from a minor note in my professor's rant about cliche writing to an inside joke that made its way into Play in a Day, it's a shame to take it out of the script since it aged with us for so long. If there is a way to make it work, I would, but I have to face the sad reality that I need to let it go.

Auditions come this weekend, and I'm excited to watch from the other side this time around. Working on a show has usually been a fun process, and I'm looking forward to the actors bringing this strange sci-fi tale to life!