“No experience necessary”, the sign said. So I, a senior English major who hadn’t been onstage since 8th grade, gathered my courage and showed up to auditions.

I got cast. (If you're wondering what my part was, I actually played six different characters in six different choruses in four different settings. Lazarus Laughed is a strange show).

Thus began my journey into a whole new world. What happens when you decide to give theater a try, and are surrounded by people who have been doing and learning about this stuff for years? Well...

1. You don’t know things everyone else knows.

What is Laban movement, and what does it have to do with the wringing motion the director is making with her hands? Oh, great, everyone else is nodding like they know exactly what she's talking about...

2. You find out you can do things you never would have thought you could do.

How am I supposed to sound drunk when I’ve never been drunk? Like, I can hear it in my head but I can't do that with my actual voice! (But I open my mouth and try it.) ...Is that my voice that is talking? How am I doing this? Am I being possessed by some drunken ghost?

3. You develop an interest in things you never thought you’d be interested in.

Aw, I don't get to drag that character across the stage by his hair anymore? Come on, this stage combat stuff is really cool! Can't I at least, like, kick someone or choke someone or something?

4. You discover things about the theater you didn't know as an audience member

You want me to run around "back there"? I thought that was just the back wall of the building... Whoa, there’s a whole hallway back here! Where does it lead? I must explore!

5. You learn surprising facts about the history of theater

Did you know that in ancient Greek theater, violence was not shown onstage because Plato believed showing violence would encourage it? (Maybe you did. I didn’t.) Good luck remembering something like this if it's listed in a lecture with a thousand other facts. It sticks in your head a lot better when your director mentions it while explaining a character's monologue.

6. You discuss ideas that make you think

For example: “'My character is insane' is not an option for your motivation. Everyone else might think you are insane. You always think that you make sense.” Obviously, it's a good acting tip. Less obviously, it makes a good point about relating to other people.

7. You have hilarious conversations with people you didn’t know existed a month ago

Through the days of discovering your characters, adding costumes and props, blocking and re-blocking, and warming up by "selling pies", an undeniable bond forms. Especially when most of you play prostitutes together...

8. Post Show Depression is a thing

I miss all of this so much, I can't think of a clever way to describe how much I miss it.