This is an audition?

I didn’t experience the most stressful finals, but it was still alarming to quickly yank myself away from the pressure of K and off to my friend's lakeside cabin where due dates were replaced by dunes and unusually sunny weather for Michigan in March. From there it was off to Chicago where my friends and I experienced the windy city for two days at the expense of another friend's dad's Hilton hotel points. Then I spent the last of my spring break at home in Madison, Wisconsin, eating cheese and ice cream.

Maybe I'm addicted to stress. That's the only explanation I can think of for the way I dove into a pool of commitments upon returning to college.

"I'd love to write an article on viral activism!"

"Of course I'll be at your Men Against Patriarchy meeting!"

"Peer Leader applications? Gotta do that!"

None of these things could compare with the ultimate commitment: Auditions for "Kahani."

Kahani is a new play that will be devised here at Kalamazoo College by visiting director Irfana Majumdar. Ten students will devise the play based on an Indian novel and a series of short stories and the play will eventually go on tour in India. Before auditioning for it, I was kind of confused. In an audition I'm used to getting up on stage, reading some lines from a scene the best I could, and if called back, I would do the same exact thing a second time. How was I supposed to audition for a play that hasn't even been written yet?

The first round of auditions caught me off guard completely. Instead of line readings, everyone was doing movement exercises. How was the director supposed to make a decision based off watching me slither along the rehearsal room floor for five minutes?

I found out during callbacks, for which everyone willing was called back. After almost arriving late (because I was locked out of my room in just my bathrobe), I showed up in borrowed exercise clothes panting from the sprint from my dorm to the fine arts building. After some more movement exercises, we were separated into groups and handed a short story. We were told we had twenty-five minutes to work with our groups to devise a scene based on the story. Apparently, under pressure K students have the ability to create impressive devised theater. Somehow my group got it together and created a scene that wasn't a train wreck.

I'm pleased to share that I'm in "Kahanai." This will most likely be my biggest theater-based commitment. Not only will I have rehearsals every night, but I will also attend a 10 a.m. class three times a week for it. I'm pumped to go to India and I'm extra pumped to work intimately with a dedicated group of students on a devised piece. I'm going to be busier than ever, but I'll try to keep this blog up to date on all my successes and frustrations.