What is suspense? According to the dictionary, suspense is the feeling of anxiousness and excited uncertainty about what may happen. Speaking about suspense, people might think of mysteries, horror, and murders too. However, if you really think about it, suspense is everywhere: in a love story, a science fiction, even a history textbook! I believe that one can find suspense as long as one is interested in the topic. One of the lessons I learned from this year’s Young Shakespeare Competition (YSC) is that suspense is everywhere, how to create that suspenseful feeling all depends on the writer’s skills.
Most people looked forward to the annual YSC, that included me. Although we were excited, we struggled through the planning stage. We had to think about a “non-lethal mystery”. The teachers encouraged us to think outside the box. We successfully came up with an idea about the mystery. As a writer, I thought the storyline wasn’t clear enough to “translate” into a script, so some of the writers sat together for every practice to discuss the details. As a result, our script turned out pretty well. I learned that communication is very important when it comes to group work, because people might have different ideas, and as a director (or any member), it is very important for me to organize everybody’s role so that they can work together. I tried my best to make things organized and well-prepared. However, our first dress rehearsal didn’t go well. There were some people who weren’t on task, or just didn’t want to do the work. My job was to make sure everybody is productive and motivated, so I needed to push them and be strict. As a director, I started to question whether I should push them strictly or ask them nicely. I chose to be nice and encouraged people to do their work, but they didn’t listen to me. Through this experience, I discovered two questions for me to reflect upon: what is the most efficient way to communicate with people (as a leader), and when I am communicating with others, should I push them or not. I also realized how difficult it is to be a leader, and learned some directing skills.
What is motivation? Is it just the passion of doing something? I think motivation also includes the willingness to take the work seriously. For example, everybody likes YSC, but not all of them wanted to do their best or complete their work. I believe that if everybody is motivated, it will improve our group work. Aside from this, there were some people who didn’t listen to the feedbacks and comments, this might also be one of the reason why our play wasn’t well-prepared. Our play was unprepared: we didn’t finish our props, some of the actors still need to improve on their skills…. I think I should’ve pushed people more, because when they’re not motivated, the only source for them to work hard is the harsh leader. I think I’ve learned my lessons as a director, and I hope I can avoid the same mistakes in the future. Although there much difficulties, I still have confidence in our play. I think our play turned out alright, but there are still many parts that we could’ve improved on. I was amazed by some plays from the other classes, also the fact that their classmates were so humble about the results when they were announced. Through the experience of YSC this year, I learned an important lesson: have confidence and trust in yourself; at the same time, be humble and reflective.
