“Remember, we’re doing this for ourselves,” my castmate said. “It doesn’t matter what they think of us. We worked for this. Now let’s have some fun.” We bumped fists and stepped out onto the Brookdale Performing Arts Center Stage.

In a moment’s time I abandoned the girl who is Sarah Cohen and became Madam Prosecutor, a disgruntled lawyer who is eager to seek justice for Santa Claus after he is found dead. Being a part of Brookdale’s Festival, a collection of eight one-act plays, held Dec. 1 through Dec. 4, was an amazing opportunity to practice my craft.

When the lights came up, I instantly felt lighter. The nerves I had previously felt washed away, and I transformed into the true thespian I trained myself to become. Blinded by the spotlight, I could not see faces in the audience. It was not until they laughed that I fully registered their presence. The play was a comedy. It meant I was doing my job.

“Live truthfully under imaginary circumstances,” I whispered beneath my breath. It was an old saying taken from acting expert Sanford Meisner. The words in the script were not my own, but the emotion behind them was real. I gave an honest interpretation of the character I agreed to play the moment I accepted the role over the telephone.

Each and every marker on the stage was ingrained in my head. The scene was set for me to use in my own means. The floor was mine and I loved it. At one point in my monologue I slapped my hands on a table in frustration and proceeded to breath heavily. I surprised myself. It was a raw reaction to the banter I shared with my scene partner. It felt honest.

As the lights dimmed and the scene concluded, I quickly strutted off of the stage with the biggest smile stretched across my face. It was not until we stepped into the dressing room my castmates and I were able to experience the feelings of joy and accomplishment together.

Intermission was 10 minutes long, but it felt like 10 seconds. I left the prosecutor behind me and transformed into my next role, an assassin. I was set out to kill my fellow female counterparts. They were my castmates who I had grown to love dearly over the course of our practice in the Brookdale Theater Department.

Together the three of us spat out our lines back and forth. It took weeks for us to engrain the words into our brain, let alone master them. I didn’t think we could act any better after the first showcase, but our performance improved each and every night. Proud is an understatement.

Festival was a memorable experience to have in my first semester at Brookdale Community College. Arriving at the PAC building at 5 p.m., putting on a show for a lovely audience at 7 p.m., and leaving the building feeling exhausted and excited at the same time, became routine.

I look forward to auditioning again and giving it my all next year.