I'm back in the office today, and I thank God (Hallelujah!) that my trip to my desk was a breeze on a Monday morning. The past two days, while everybody else was probably strolling the malls, eating out at some new restaurant, or just chilling at the comfort of their living rooms, I was in a seminar to develop our "service attitude" at Discovery Suites. It was the first time that I interacted with the majority of IBM and P&G people in the office, and it was really fun spending the weekend with them. I didn't know most of them until Saturday when we had to work together in teams in several workshops, FGDs, and role plays. Of course, I felt it was my time to *shine* so I had to volunteer in at least one of these sessions. Being the newbie, I can't initiate a discussion on the R&ES process workflow, so I decided I had to do good in the role play. Perhaps, this is what I've been relatively good at doing so I did not hesitate when I had to act the role of an infuriated Singaporean expat (with a British accent) bound for the Philippines.
Accepting this challenge was a great deal to me, not only because I might look stupid acting out the role infront of these multi-talented individuals, but it had been years since I acted on stage for a major theater production and I was really shaking inside before we took the platform. We were the first to present, and everything I said was spontaneous as I imagined myself in the position of the man I was representing. Well, there were momentary flashbacks of my previous theater workshops and productions, and I recalled that making people laugh without injecting toilet humor was one of the toughest jobs of an actor. But I was thankful (Hallelujah one more!) , that the skit went very smoothly. People laughed at my acting for a variety of reasons. I could see some of my friends covering their faces, probably because I was already making a fool of myself on the platform, but I didn't mind. At the end of the performance, I believed I deserved an applause. And I was right. Our trainer commented that I may have to rethink about the career path Ive been currently taking and swerve towards that of the REP. hehe! I just took that as a compliment because I realized a long time ago that the theater was not for me. Not that I don't have the talent or the potential of a professional stage performer, but because I don't have much passion for it as what real theater actors have (The passion I had felt amongst the resident actors of REP, Trumpets, Dulaang UP, and Tanghalang PIlipino). Nevertheless, it always feels great to think that I have some creative outlet to free myself from the daily rituals I subject myself to from time to time. I may audition for a stage prod in the future, and experience again the feeling of being so much appreciated for bringing life in fiction. The show was over but it wasn't the final bow after all.
