The drama department and the debate department were actually the
exact same thing headed up by the one guy in school passionate about
both. In speech competitions they were entwined usually alternating
between debate events and individual drama and speech events. I have
a natural propensity to overestimate my skills at everything and
disliking the things I am actually good at. I saw all of the drama
kids winning awards and I thought if those dorks could win I could
really mop up. I tried a few drama events and the poor dimwitted
judges mistook my brilliant acting and humorous interpretations for
mere pedestrian drivel hampered by overacting. Philistines! I thought
that my bad showing in competition must have been a one off so I
tried out for a school play. The drama and debate teacher did like me
and appreciated that I won consistently at debate bringing him some
measure of glory but even he couldn't see his was into letting me
have an actual part in the play I tried for. He put me into a part
that he had rewritten from a speech intended for a single male actor
into a part for three consolation prize parts for me and some other
bad actors. I appeared as a ghost to deliver the sentence from a
balcony on the small stage in the drama classroom in unison with a
stinky kid and someone whom I cannot recall. It was painfully bad.
The line was us saying that we represented the -Name I Do Not
Remembers – of the world and then we offered the lead actress a
gift from beyond. The gift was, in point of fact, a Nerf football
that was covered in glitter by the props department. I had never read
the script or gone to rehearsal and so I am not sure what play I was
in. I do remember that I was so ashamed at how lame the part was and
how badly I did even that job that I didn't come back to do the two
subsequent performances and no one cared or even mentioned it. I
didn't act again until college when I was required to for debate.
