I recently had the privelage of attending Towson High School’s spring performance of “Bye Bye Birdie.” The crew did a wonderful rendition of the play and I throroughly enjoyed myself. They kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

As the play progressed I began to notice that the actors and actresses who I enjoyed watching the most were the ones who never came out of character. Every nuance, every look, every shuffle, every song made their role more convincing.

As I reflected on the students’ performance I thought about the famous Shakespeare quote from As You Like It:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players …

Great performances are not limited to the arena of theater. All of us have roles and responsibilities in this life. Take a father for example, the best fathers are those who put their full effort into the role of being a father.  From the moment their first child is born, to the moment they pass away, they never stop playing the role of father. Most importantly, this effort to play the role of a father is not forced or faked. It is a natural expression.

I noticed in the play that my favorite performers played their parts so effortlessly that it seemed as if they weren’t even acting. In our day to day lives if we truly embrace the roles we have our performances will become effortless and quite wonderful to witness.
I have heard some people take a pessimistic outlook on Shakespeare’s quote above. They complain that seeing ourselves as actors or actresses makes life seems forced or faked. I see it as an opportunity for us to give the performance of a lifetime.