Humans of USyd: Performing Arts Edition
Mia Catagnone brings you this edition of Humans of USyd.
It is no secret that the USYD community is filled with a wealth of talented individuals. Here are but two stories of USYD students who have been following their passion for the performing arts while also studying full-time.
Anika Bhatia
Anika Bhatia is undergoing a Bachelor of Arts/Advanced Studies in Media and Communications with a major in marketing. She first began doing performing arts when she started doing drama and speech classes at the age of 5 after her mum signed her up. Last year Anika performed in an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. She also recently finished performing in the local production Rattling the Keys with Theatre Travels.
“There was a weird time during COVID where we were seeing audiences wearing masks and there were gaps between seats. It was incredible to realise how amazing it was to just be able to perform again and I could see how much audiences were craving theatre. We hadn’t been able to do it for so long and as a performer I realized how much I missed it.”
Like all creative art endeavors, theatre comes with struggles and pressures, from the fears of being rejected at an audition to forgetting your lines on stage and not to mention the complications that COVID delivered when theatres were forced to shut down.
“I am such a perfectionist. I’d always be so hard on myself after a performance. It wasn’t until a teammate just told me, 'you’ve got to stop being so harsh on yourself’ and hearing how serious he was when he told me, kind of became a turning point for me. I saw that being harsh on myself and my fear of being ‘wrong’ was actually holding me back. I finally learned that I had to stop doing that and just start enjoying myself. In theatre, it’s so important to remember you are worth more than what one person may say about you. At least for me, in striving for perfection, I tend to get lost in the noise. Once I remind myself why I am acting- to feel the joy of being alive in someone else’s shoes- is when I feel the most authentic.”
Anika recently was selected to perform in the People of Colour Revue, but has turned down the role as she will soon be undergoing an internship at Channel 10- congratulations Anika on this achievement!!!
Jeremi Campese
Jeremi Campese is undergoing a Bachelor of Arts doing a double major in English and Philosophy. Jeremi’s talent in creative arts began through playing cello and it wasn’t till he was in high school that he first discovered theatre. Like Anika, Jeremi started off with his career through the Australian Theatre for Young People before then progressing into independent theatre and performing with the Bell Shakespeare Company in productions such as The Players.
“The thing I love about it is that it’s live. You can very viscerally and physically feel the audience and tell if they love it or hate it. It’s great having the theatre back. If you think about it, stories shape societies and the way theatre shapes our hearts and minds is extraordinary.”
Like Anika, Jeremi knows a career in theatre takes having a thick skin and sometimes in the end practice makes perfect.
“The more you do it the more you get used to letting go of self-criticism mid-performance. Everyone goes through struggles and indeed there is no such thing as a career in performing arts where things always go right. If you're an actor you're constantly being rejected, and you have to get used to it, you have to be very resilient whether you like it or not. If you want to keep going you have to understand that everyone gets bad reviews.
You have to learn to block out the noise and continue on with the show and trust the performance and the people you’re working with. It's like anything you know, you have to build resilience and you have to ensure that you’re not just getting your sense of value and worth from other people.”
Jeremi is currently performing in Hamlet with the Bell Shakespeare company, which initially began last year in March but was postponed in April due to COVID. The production recently started up again and is showing in theatres.