For the ELP assignment that I performed in class, I interviewed my little sister, Blair. I really wanted to interview her because of my interest in injuries and medicine. When I was in high school, I was on the swim team, and the cheerleading squad. But when I was a junior, I had had rheumatoid arthritis for 4 years. At this point in my cheerleading experience, I would pride myself on tumbling and stunting. But this far into the disease, and about 5 medicine trials later, I wasn’t getting any better, and all the stress I was putting on my joints in cheerleading was just making me a lot worse. So after days and days of not being able to move after a practice, I made the decision to leave the sport, and prayed I could find something else I was meant for.
My sister had a similar story. And her and I could relate, so that’s why I wanted to do the performance of her interview. My sister, as you all probably remember, was a volleyball player, then tore her ACL, and her teammates weren’t there for her, and because she wasn’t helping out with wins, they ignored her and weren’t even her friend anymore. After she healed, she went on to try out for cheerleading, and is enjoying that and the friendships she has made a lot more.
But as I was interviewing her, the things that she said made me so sad. I was trying to imagine her as just another person I was interviewing for the project. But, this was kind of the first time her and I had a real sit down, and talk about her negative experience. Through the experience, I was just there to help her recover and be a shoulder to cry on when she was in pain. I was never never to hear about her heartache, that was so apparent in her interview. I knew that if I wanted to capture the ELP accurately, I had to imagine myself in her shoes, and instead of focusing on all the technicalities, like her hands, and head movements, I needed to focus on her voice, her breath, and the way her words made her move.
I think I captured my sister a lot better than I could have captured Robert. But then again, he was so simple, that maybe the ELP would have been more accurate, but less useful in our project for sure. This ELP project was so helpful, and the challenge of it really taught me some valuable skills in acting and essential skills we’ll need in writing this play.
What I really like about this post is that through the process of interviewing your sister, you felt closer to her. I loved interviewing someone a sort of knew and someone I had never met, since I was really getting to know these people that I didn't know well before. However, your post made me think of what if I had interviewed my dad or my grandfather and what that would have been like. My parents and my grandparents get such joy out of telling me stories and I think all people get joy out of telling personal stories to people who are there to listen and want to hear. I think through doing interviews and ELP's we are already strengthening the community simply by listening. And this is a lesson that has carried over to my life. I realize sometimes when talking to my parents, I am always talking a lot about me and my life but hardly ever ask about what their college years were like and ask them to share stories with me. The ELP process has really left a mark on my life by asking my parents and grandparents and other people I love to share their stories, their wisdom, and their knowledge with me. After all, I know they won't be there forever and I want their words to stay with me after they are gone. Amy also mentioned interviewing her family and how she learned so much during that process. So, yes I think its important in this class to interview people, strangers and friends to strengthen the play, but also to interview and listen to your family and loved ones for yourself.
ReplyDelete