Four years ago I was sitting in my high school guidance office nervously awaiting approval from a St. Thomas University admissions officer.
As Megan Young Jones skimmed through my transcript, my palms were sweating and I could hear my heart racing in the quiet grey office where university pamphlets covered the shelves. I spent my high school career on stage, and Young Jones assured me that STU would offer great opportunities for me to continue acting while pursuing my journalism degree. She was a member of Theatre St. Thomas, and her description of this extra-curricular theatre company made it clear there was no other school for me.
TST produces many amazing performers. However, the majority of those actors are not making a living in the theatre industry. Young Jones is now the First Nations Literacy teacher at George Street Middle School. She attributes her success to her time with TST.
“It was where I learned about hard work,” said Young Jones. “It gave me confidence to get up in front of people, so that whenever I was a recruiter for St. Thomas, it was easy for me to have a personal experience to relate to the students.”
Young Jones uses these skills in her teaching position at George Street. She also helps direct the school’s productions and makes the costumes.
“We’re the only middle school in Fredericton that puts on musical productions,” Young Jones said. “We really raise the bar for our students, because that’s what I was taught to do.”
Young Jones had grown up with an interest in theatre, but not every person who performs in a TST show has previous experience.
“Once I got to STU, I sort of gravitated toward the Black Box,” said Stuart Forestell, an analyst in the National Cyber Security Directorate with the federal government.
During Forestell’s second year, TST held auditions for Romeo and Juliet. It was then that he knew he wanted to be a part of a show.
“I think I read one of Romeo’s monologues,” said Forestell. “When it was done Ilkay asked if I had anything to add, and for maybe the first and only time in my life I made a kind of Don Draper pitch to her, along the lines of ‘Look, I’m no Romeo, and I’m not Mercutio, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a better Benvolio.'”
He received the part of Benvolio and, according to Forestell, the rest is history.
“TST taught me the fundamentally important skill of being able to be empathetic. To step outside myself and put myself in another’s mindset or perspective,” said Forestell.
Although Forestell stumbled upon TST after arriving at STU, many students get their first taste of the Black Box during New Brunswick’s Drama Festival.
“Those organizing and helping out with the Drama Fest activities were always enthusiastic and seemed to really love what they were doing,” said Julia Whalen, STU grad.
After attending Drama Fest with her high school, Whalen knew she wanted to be a part of the TST community. She fulfilled that dream during her studies. Now working for CBC National in Toronto, Whalen explains how she uses the skills she learned in the Black Box on a daily basis.
“Through theatre I really learned how to present myself – how to speak in front of people and feel comfortable doing so, how to think through and react to different scenarios on the fly and how to listen,” Whalen says. “You learn how to not just deal with your fears and nerves, but tackle them head on.”
The Black Box Theatre is a place where people gather to watch an incredible scene unfold. It’s where many have made lifelong friendships and in some cases found their soul mates. TST has allowed people to grow personally and professionally.
As I leave St. Thomas to begin my career, I take with me skills I have gained from TST, as well as relationships with people who continue to inspire me every day.
