Abstract:
When I look back, it is so clear. At age 3, my favorite things were dressing up and playing make believe. At age 10, in a children's version of A Midsummer's Night's Dream, my best friend was the lead and I was a tree, but I sure did know all of her lines... just in case. At 14, leaving my first opera, I was on a literal high--dancing and singing with joy. Yet, it wasn't until playing Elizabeth Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible my senior year in high school that I realized acting could even be an option for my life and work. When visiting Ball State on a whim a few months later, I saw a show and that was it. I said, "I want to do this and I want to do this here." Yet, even then I thought, "Maybe this is just four more years I get to do theatre, then I'll do what I have to do." After four years I couldn't be more thankful and excited to begin a career as a professional actress. I love acting for what I learn and how I am changed by it, for the dedicated and amazing people I have the privilege to work with and for the way we can affect others through not only the stories we tell but how they are told.My first week at Ball State I walked into my advisor Rodger Smith's office and said, "Hello, my name is Lynn Downey and I want to be the best actress I can be." He was a little blown away, a little doubtful and a little confident with, "Ok, lets get to work." I've worked very hard to learn as much as I could, to find my own process and to do good work in shows and class work. I feel I have grown in so many ways, especially by allowing myself to be vulnerable, learning to try, fail and try again, and by persevering to understand and translate that understanding to action.Looking into the world I feel I am ready begin my career as an actress. This thesis is to equip me with the tools I will need to survive and thrive as a professional, artist and person. Business-wise, I ordered headshots, prepared a professional resume, artistic resume, and cover letters, and created a five-year plan. For my artistic pursuits, I organized and worked a monologue repertoire functional for a diverse range of possible theatrical auditions, a reel of my film work and a voice-over demo tape. For my personal life I have started a journal that I write in weekly as way of debriefing, place to record my journey and look back on my process and progress.Mr. Rodgers says, "I hope you will feel good enough about yourselves that you will want to minister to others and that you will find your own unique way of doing that." I believe I have found that. As I look ahead, it is so clear.
