I first heard About Face Theatre doing workshops for the 2003 season from my Gay/Lesbian Humanities teacher Victoria Shannon at
Columbia College Chicago. As I was walking into the classroom, she gave me a flyer and told me to contact them and join the theatre
group. I was so excited because I always wanted to do theatre and especially with About Face, who I heard so much about.
So, I e-mailed Tony Alvarado-Rivera and told him I was interested in joining. He replied back and said that About Face would love
to have me. Tony told me all about the workshops and was extremely helpful. I was full of excitment. I was going to be part of the
workshops and performance!
Feb. 8 was orientation, and when I walked into United Methodist Church on Broadway in Boystown I was full of excitment. I was
so happy to be meeting others, maybe, hopefully, just like me. When I walked downstairs this guy walked up to me and smiled. 'Hi,
My Name is Rohan,' he said. I shook his hand and I told him my name. From there I met lots of others. Everyone was so nice, friendly,
and open-minded. I felt so free because I got to be myself and that I was not alone.
The next Saturday was the first workshop. Megan Carney, Beck, Paul and Zarah led the workshops. But before we did the
workshops everyone in About Face would sit in a circle and someone would light the candle and we would say what was disturbing
us and pass it around. Megan, Beck, Paul, and Zarah then led the workshopsfirst we would do breathing excercises for warmups,
then they would give us a topic to share and we got into groups and told and performed our stories. I shared my story about being
harassed somewhere and performed it.
I remember sharing stories about coming outby just talking about it, something came off of my chest, I felt so free and felt much
better about myself. We even did comedy and that was really cool. I would be looking forward to workshop every Saturday and
people in the workshop would say hi and give me hugs. I felt so happy and I felt that I fit in. Everyone in About Face are so important
to me, they are supportive, and they are like my second family. Now we are in the rehearsing phase and everyone is going great!!!
I'm really excited about performing at the Goodman. I want to thank Brian Goodman, Megan Carney, Tony Alvarado-Rivera, Zarah
Baker, Beck, Paul Oakley-Stovall and everyone in About Face Theatre. Thank you for your support, love, letting me be myself, and
being there for me. You mean so much to me and you are like my second family and I love you all so much. I also want to thank
Victoria Shannon, my favorite teacher at Columbia College Chicago, for telling me about About Face and telling me to do it.
Up Until Now, the 2003 About Face Youth Theatre production, runs July 31-Aug. 17 at the Goodman Theatre. Call ( 312 ) 443-
3800.