Acting with teenagers part 2

I wasn't even suppose to do acting with the teens. My job was to guide them and give them feedback.

Until my boss realized that I'd do most guiding if I was in the plays with them. I didn't do much acting for the first 6 months, and then, when it was time to work out the final show, my boss asked me to act as the antagonist. "They can't do it. You need to do it."

So I did, and we realized that me being with them helped them much more than me telling them what to do.

And they became my friends.

I saw myself as the mentor according to Vygotskij's proximal development zone (google if you're not familiar with Vygotskij's theories). I teach by showing them an example.

I had so much fun doing so. I started to do the small plays too with them, not only the final shows. It was wonderful.

I did challenge them hell of a lot. I pushed them out of their comfort zones by demanding them to act in a scene with themes they weren't familiar with. It was great.

And I want to think they genuinely thought it helped them. At least I had fun, and I hope they realized how much being pushed out of comfort zones helped them develope as actors and creators.