Dramatization was hard for me.

In life, no one is born with any prepared guidelines as to how to perform some kind of skill.. We all had to learn all the things that we now know. Some can learn things very fast while some people are slow. Then there are certain skills that most people pick up naturally and easily but those same skills which they picked up easily would be difficult for others to learn and vice versa.

I loved the entertainment world from as far back as I can remember. Even as a child, I recall doing role-plays with my childhood friends. I would take my mother's scarf and use it as a wrapper to carry my doll on my back. My friends would take up roles either as father, aunty, children or whatever we needed at the moment to act out our play.

I also recall cooking imaginary foods in empty cans and tins. I always played the mummy roles a lot (probably because the doll was mine) and so I took on the responsibility of a home maker in those children plays.

It's funny though because I never saw myself as an actress. I only did those role-plays for fun and probably, to mimic our adults. I could not even fathom myself as an actress or I would have my parents to deal with.

Fast forward to my days in secondary school. I was chosen to join the drama club. Pffft, pretty easy* I thought. No one told me that acting was hard work and needed much learning.

The first time I tried acting out a role given by our teacher, I was dumbfounded at the series of no…cut, take it again, no, not like that. Add vigour to it”*. I looked at heaven but no help came. I looked at the Earth but it also deserted me. I was on my own.

The role was later given to another student in the club. I tried again and this time, the teacher said that I was too stiff and could not express the necessary emotions for the role I was given. I didn't feel bad about my not being able to act smoothly, after all I was not an arts student and I left it at that and never bothered with acting again as I felt it was quite difficult and tedious to grasp.

Prior to that time, I used to think that acting was easy but later, I got to understand that there's a lot of work put into it. There's even a school of theatre arts. Hmm, all these were foreign to me back then.

I became enlightened after I began listening to some interviews with top actors and actresses, when they spoke about how they struggled with certain roles before they nailed it and so on. That was when it dawned on me that acting was not child's play. My breakthrough came after I joined the drama team department in my church six years ago.

It was my church drama team that helped me get some much needed training on acting. They were patient with my flaws and guided me all the way. Soon, I began to get the hang of it. I began to understand things like stage management, stage mannerisms, appropriate lingua and how to manage stage fright. I began to understand different emotional expressions for each role as well.

Another thing that helped me learn fast was consistent acting. We had a Sunday in each month in which we would act before the entire congregation. This helped me learn a lot about acting and I can now say that it is no longer difficult for me to do.

I'm not a pro at acting yet but if the camera rolls and a stage is set, I'll surely not underperform and that is a plus for me.

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Thank you all for reading. This is my entry to the #hivelearners weekly initiative #170 e1.

Images are mine.