I had my final performance for an acting class today. because of the ongoing pandemic, this was the first time we were able to perform in-person without masks. seeing people’s faces was something I did not know I missed that much, but seeing their emotions was truly cathartic.

I felt that all-too-familiar rush. the butterflies flittering around your heart and up your throat. I cried during a classmate’s performance. my prof cried during mine. everything was so familiar yet new? like I had just stumbled upon a long-lost friend in the supermarket.

live theatre really is that powerful, huh? obviously we’ve lost a lot to this pandemic and adapted, but the power of live performance is just something that can’t be recreated. not virtually. that maskless audience-performer connection is incomparable