On December 1st, Emma girls around the world got up and said "Revels".
There is no good way to describe Revels; it is one of those things you just "get" if you are an Emma girl. It is a play put on by the senior class every year, telling the story of a medieval Christmas celebration and a play within this particular play. It honestly does not make too much sense, but it is deeply loved by students, alumnae, faculty and staff nonetheless. Every alumna I have spoken to said it's one of the best nights of their lives, but some even go so far to say that it is better than their weddings.
I saw Revels for the first time in December 2013. I was a new sophomore, unfamiliar with Emma's many seasonal traditions (Eventide, Peanuts and Shells, Revels) My friends tried to explain to me what Revels is about -- not that they really understood what the play was about either -- but they kept on saying, "you just have to see it for yourself", and they were right. I didn't know a lot of seniors in that year's graduating class, but it did not stop me from enjoying the show. That night was the night I felt the love within Emma community for the first time. The amount of pure happiness and passion is incomparable; in that moment I knew it was a special tradition and couldn't wait for the following year.
Revels 2013
Junior year came and the long awaited Revels day came along. This Revels was particularly special; it was the 100th year and my last time seeing Revels as an underclasswoman. As a junior, I learned more about the tradition (and got the album on iTunes). I got to know more seniors, and loved being able to see my best friend, my ring sister, my proctor and friends finally reveal their roles. Then the countdown began for the 101st Revels, my own Revels.
Revels 2014
My class got together for the first time as a cast to audition for parts we wanted in mid-September. We found out our parts a week later, and said "interesting" every time someone told us what they thought we could be. Trying not to give any hints about my part for three long months was so incredibly difficult. In the midst of college applications, standardized testing and schoolwork, it felt like Revels week would never come. But when it came, it hit me hard.
Revels week was one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. It was a week filled with fun, laughter and bonding experiences, but also the week I spent running off caffeine and sugar. Even though we got a week off from school to prepare for Revels (hence Revels week), it almost felt like going to school would be less tiring.
Yet Revels is worth all the exhaustion. Being in Revels allows you to be anyone and anything you want to be as long as you believe in yourself, and that part will follow you long after you graduate from Emma. I didn't audition for my parts as a countrywoman or the Boars Head Procession (Bearer of the Mustard), but I ended up getting to share my role with one of my favorite alumnae.
I still remember watching a live stream of the audience from the basement of Slocum. I was so excited to finally reveal my secret that I had my makeup done and checked almost two hours before. When the time was right, I walked in, I stood under the warm lights, and with hundreds of girls screaming, cheering, stomping, and crying in the background, I felt so at home I didn't know how I could leave this place in six months.
The Countrywomen; Revels 2015. Photo by Mark Van Wormer.
I was homesick for Emma during most of my first semester at Brandeis. While I am enjoying my college experience, there is not a day I didn't miss Emma. In my memory, Emma is my happy place, even though I am fully aware it is by no means perfect. Revels season only exemplified my longing to return home; for a while, it was my only motivation to finish finals.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Friday night performance of the 102nd Revels even though the weather conditions were not ideal. I was elated to be back in the place I called home for three years; I got to see my friends, teachers and my favorite dog Rode, all of whom I haven't seen since graduation in June. I didn't realize how much this place meant to me until I started crying before the performance even began.
Being at Emma on the night of Revels meant I was really home with some of my closest friends, and I couldn't have been any happier.
Revels 2016
It is possible that I would have moved on from Emma a little more this time next year, and that the prospect of seeing a high school play will (most likely) no longer excite me the way it does now, but as J.K. Rowling puts it, “whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”
Revels truly embodies what it means to be an Emma girl. Like Emma, Revels combines the old and the new. Revels is knowing that you will always have a home in the gray walls, even years after you graduate. Revels is home.
To read more about my boarding school adventures, check out my previous articles When Home And School Become Synonymous and Growing Up: Boarding School Edition.
