Let's set some things straight before we start:
Not every theatre major is an actor.
"Theater" with "er" is the location, and "theatre" with "re" is the art form.
And, for the love of God, don't ask me what I'm going to do with this degree.
OK, now let's dive into the magical world of theatre.
It's been 12 hours. You haven't seen the light of day. All you've experienced is the glow of stage lights, the smell of sweat, and the sound of footsteps repeating the same movements over and over and over again. All you've eaten today was a granola bar you found in your bag and drank the equivalent of five water bottles. Your feet ache from standing, your eyes hurt, and you are definitely done with that one person in the cast. Welcome to tech day for a show.
When people think of theatre majors, they probably visualize a group of stuck-up people wearing Elizabethan era-style clothing, performing "Romeo and Juliet" to a packed audience. Now I can confirm that we are a bit narcissistic, but theatre requires so much more work than reciting lines on a stage with a "cool" costume. For every one show that gets put on, it requires weeks of rehearsal at a time in preparation for four to six shows that only last two hours each.
Theatre majors are actually the most versatile individuals. Having to constantly work with diverse groups of people, we can adapt well and work with whomever, whenever. A theatre major must also be able to work with themselves. Composing yourself to become a different person, regardless of whatever you have going on off stage, takes a lot of skill and ability. We are very punctual because our call times are set and you cannot be late to those.
The theatre major requires a ton of diverse classes, whether it's an acting class, a theatre history class, or a basic stage design class. The amount of work that gets put into class time is countless, not including the work we have to do out of class. Yes, theatre majors have homework. Most of the actual class time is showing what you worked on outside of class, whether it's a monologue for acting or your set design for design class.
Theatre isn't all fun and games every waking moment -- it can feel like insanity at most points. There was actually a study done about actors and people who do theatre, and whether the creative arts affect a persons mental health. At California State University, the woman who conducted the study stated that "there is a psychological cost for participants engaged in the creative arts." Ain't that the truth.
My point being: don't forget to give that theatre major in your life a little bit of love, because they are sleep-deprived and probably need human contact that isn't within the department. It's not easy being a theatre major, but it is probably one of the most fun majors to be.
