🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Maple Tree from Munich, Germany

Maple Tree

I‘m a 19 year old student from Germany and I love travelling, skateboarding and anything to do with acting and movies.
Most of my free time is spent in front of the screen watching one of the many movies and tv series on my neverending watch list. I‘m sure I‘ve seen your favourite already!
Other than that community is very important for me. At school I participate in many extra curricular acrivities and have quite some social responsibilites which I hope to continue once I‘m in university. That‘s also why I love to travel, you meet kind people on every inch of this planet!

The soil / the need

I was looking for community, somewhere I could be myself without judgement. A space for me to grow into the person I want to be and theatre offered / offers me the possibility to become more confident, something I lacked before. I loved how everybody works together to create one final masterpiece, and everybody could contribute in their own way. Of course there were the actors, but there were so many other things that had to be done, and I felt like theatre helps everybody to feel like they belong, useful and appreciated.

The first seed

A teacher / school

Tell us about that first spark

I love watching movies and tv series and on social media I saw snippets of a play with Timothee Chalamet (one of my favourite actors) when he was younger (Prodigal Son) that really resonated with me. There‘s this one monologue I know without thinking („Everybody talks to me like I‘m the one, you know I should change. Why should I change? I‘ve never even got to find out who I am, you want me to change? That‘s crazy. You tell me I‘m bad, before I even get to be anything, what the hell is that? Original sin or something?“) that I repeat in my head from time to time and I think this might have been when I really noticed that what I‘ve been „longing for“ is this kind of expression. Being on stage and impersonating a character with deep feelings and giving them the opportunity of showing them.
Also I really wanted to become part of this world, being in actual movies, and seeing how Timothee Chalamet went from this guy from theatre to such a prominent actor in today‘s cinematic world made me feel like I might be able to achieve the same. Even if it‘s a dream far, far away, it‘s something that will be in the back of my head everytime I‘m on stage.

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

Even though I participated in a school play in third grade and loved every part of it, I did not continue acting for various personal reasons. Then in secondary school, when a lot had changed already, we were able to choose an extra course for the last two years of school before graduation, and wirhout thinking I decided on „Theatre and Film“.
I knew this was the time and place to do what I‘ve been meaning to get into for a long time and the opportunity to take the desired step into the future I want to have.
I finally had the confidence to muster up the courage for the tryouts (also with the help of my friends). In general this was also due to the teachers I had up until that point / who I still have who saw me for who I really was and believed in me.
Because of this first school play, I had the opportunity to participate in a local theatre project. Some students from my school and some other people are currently writing our own play that we‘ll perform in September.
So I think all of it comes down to the great school I‘m currently attending, the opportunities it presented / presents me with and the friends and teachers that believe in me every day.

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

I love the community it provides and the sense of belonging. It‘s pretty much what I wrote on the first question. It‘s also nice to solve problems together, thinkg about how to make the best out of this scene or – when on stage during the performance and something didn‘t go to plan / someone forgot their line – improvise together to find the best ending.
But other than that it makes me feel so many different emotions depending on the character – love, hate, ecstasy, power, sadness, frustration and so many more. When I‘m on stage I feel alive and I love every second on it.

Branches (future / desire)

I want to keep on acting, that‘s for sure! While I‘m in university, I hope to be part of more plays and plan on enrolling in a local theatre group. On the one hand I want to act, but on the other hand I‘ll also look for opportunities to work behind the scenes, preparing everything else you need for a good performance. I really hope I can transport my knowledge into movie acting, audition for short movie roles and maybe get a foot in the door of acting in movies. So basically I think it will give me experience, and of course also the other things I already wrote on why I love theatre!

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, regularly

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

Between my home city and my school city, there‘s this really nice maple tree (at least that’s what I think it is) next to the road on a vast field. There‘s nothing else around, it just stands there all alone but with such grace you‘re sure it‘s exactly where it wants to be! In the summer the leafs are nicely green and it feels refreshing to drive by and in the winter you can see the perfect circular shape the crown has.
I think I would be this tree, simply because it‘s my favourite one! It stood straight through every storm and is still staning, nothing brought it down. It reminds me of myself and my past. It gives me a sense of peacefulness I want in my life. A perfect balance, grace and beauty. I would love to be something that offers these kind of feelings to other people.