The series of monologues entitled “From Inner Worlds,” written and performed by students in the class Autobiographical Writing and Performance, proved to be an interesting acting experience for the writers and actors involved.

The production debuted last week at Harper Joy Theatre, which ran from Sept. 26 through 29, showcasing a series of autobiographical monologues. The class is taught by Dan Kwong, a visiting theater professor. The performance topics ranged from a love of the history of baseball to sexual discovery, to the death of a close friend and many other topics in between.

The 10 students that performed were given roughly a week to complete their final performances. To become prepared to write these deeply personal stories, the students utilized many trust exercises and other physical exercises.

Sophomore Kelsey Yuhara said that students were told to spend a class period playing Frisbee and other outdoor sports that involved teamwork. Other methods of preparation included mental prompts in which Professor Kwong would ask students to think of an embarrassing moment, a moment when they learned the difference between boys and girls and other personal moments of self-discovery.

The process of playing themselves was “definitely a strange experience,” said Yuhara. “There’s a certain amount of acting that must go along with it in order to get your point across, but if there is too much acting your piece can sound insincere. This, of course, is the complete opposite of the effect you want to create.”

Each piece was seven to eight minutes long and resulted in a four-page monologue. Originally some pieces were up to 11 minutes long and much editing was required.

“It was ultimately the selection and editing process that added the artistic element to our performances. We needed to select what we wanted to emphasize, highlight, distort and eventually present. Adding movements and actions, being selective about what we highlight, is part of the acting process which allows us to make our performances succinct as well as engaging,” said Yuhara.

As a natural part of the acting process, Yuhara explained, some events are distorted and exaggerated in order to prove a point. They become metaphors and symbols for the theme of the performance. When asked about how she was instructed on how to balance the poetic, personal side of the performance with what is reality based, Yuhara compared the performance to an essay.

“You have your evidence, which you use for your solid parts of your essay. Then you have your analysis, which can be eloquent and powerful that way. In writing these performances, it was the same thing. You needed a basis in fact and autobiography, and then you could use your own analysis to explain, I guess, your own life-thesis.”