Recently, I just participated in the Districts Tournament for Forensics. I was in Duo Interpretation with Frank Spingler. We performed a piece called, "Catch Me If You Can." In this, I played the one of 8 characters. Frank was the basically the narrator for his life story.
We automatically qualified for state, because there was only one other team in the category. In the end, we lost because of little hiccups here and there. Also, our confidence was shaken because of the type of piece they had. Their piece basically included God and a terminally ill child. Although, to our surprise, we beat them in the first round.
Now, we just have to work on perfecting the piece and our transitions. Our transitions are noticeably better. It was just the fact that we began to lose more and more confidence in ourselves. This will be fixed, and we will prevail.
This past weekend, at White House High School in White House, Tennessee, I participated in the Poetry division of the District competition. I went with my piece "Acceptance," which included the poems Dear Straight People, by Denice Frohman, and God is Gay, by Elliot Darrow. I thought I had a really good chance at breaking because I had poured my heart and soul into this piece, but despite all of that work, I did not break. I got fifth place (in round one,) fourth place (in round two,) and fifth place again (in round three.) 2.0 (Rebecca Browning) broke though, and won first place, so that's good!
The main reason I didn't break, I believe, is because of my content material. I used poetry that is written to make someone thing. Specifically, it is written to make straight people think about how they've treated members of the LGBTQ+ community. In the words of Coach Silvers, "If you'd been in LA, you'd win first place. If you'd been in Boston, you'd have won first place. In White House Tennessee..." Must I go on? The fact of the matter is, I didn't break because I offended my judges, because I made them feel guilty. At least, I hope I did. Either that, or the fact that I quoted the head of the Westboro Baptists in 2006, Fred Phelps, in one of my poem really made them angry because he could have been their hero.
The lesson to learned from this is that no matter how good a performer you are, or could be, your subject matter is everything. If you're in LA or Boston and you do a piece about being a White Supremacist, you'd probably get last place. Just like if you do Gay poetry in Tennessee, where there's not that much progressive thought. If you're even considering doing a piece that might be controversial... Don't do it, because you can't be sure that a judge will judge you fairly, or mark you last place because you ticked them off.
Recently, I just participated in the Districts Tournament for Forensics. I was in Duo Interpretation with Frank Spingler. We performed a piece called, "Catch Me If You Can." In this, I played the one of 8 characters. Frank was the basically the narrator for his life story.
ReplyDeleteWe automatically qualified for state, because there was only one other team in the category. In the end, we lost because of little hiccups here and there. Also, our confidence was shaken because of the type of piece they had. Their piece basically included God and a terminally ill child. Although, to our surprise, we beat them in the first round.
Now, we just have to work on perfecting the piece and our transitions. Our transitions are noticeably better. It was just the fact that we began to lose more and more confidence in ourselves. This will be fixed, and we will prevail.
This past weekend, at White House High School in White House, Tennessee, I participated in the Poetry division of the District competition. I went with my piece "Acceptance," which included the poems Dear Straight People, by Denice Frohman, and God is Gay, by Elliot Darrow. I thought I had a really good chance at breaking because I had poured my heart and soul into this piece, but despite all of that work, I did not break. I got fifth place (in round one,) fourth place (in round two,) and fifth place again (in round three.) 2.0 (Rebecca Browning) broke though, and won first place, so that's good!
ReplyDeleteThe main reason I didn't break, I believe, is because of my content material. I used poetry that is written to make someone thing. Specifically, it is written to make straight people think about how they've treated members of the LGBTQ+ community. In the words of Coach Silvers, "If you'd been in LA, you'd win first place. If you'd been in Boston, you'd have won first place. In White House Tennessee..." Must I go on? The fact of the matter is, I didn't break because I offended my judges, because I made them feel guilty. At least, I hope I did. Either that, or the fact that I quoted the head of the Westboro Baptists in 2006, Fred Phelps, in one of my poem really made them angry because he could have been their hero.
The lesson to learned from this is that no matter how good a performer you are, or could be, your subject matter is everything. If you're in LA or Boston and you do a piece about being a White Supremacist, you'd probably get last place. Just like if you do Gay poetry in Tennessee, where there's not that much progressive thought. If you're even considering doing a piece that might be controversial... Don't do it, because you can't be sure that a judge will judge you fairly, or mark you last place because you ticked them off.