This semester I had the honor of performing in Juniata’s fall production of William Shakespeare’s, Julius Caesar. One of the things that I really enjoyed doing before coming to college was performing in my school’s shows, and when I heard that Juniata was going to be putting on Julius Caesar, I knew that it was something that I definitely wanted to be a part of.

I am not going to lie, I was a bit intimidated thinking about the auditions. This was my first show in college, and I did not want to mess up my chance to be a part of that. The production was student-run, and thankfully, the students running the audition were incredibly nice and made me feel comfortable from the moment I walked in, greeting me with smiles. After the audition process ended, I found out that I would be playing Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, a soldier, and a citizen, and so I was thrown into the whirlwind process of getting a show ready in less than two months.

 We had lots of rehearsals and I spent a lot of time getting to know a lot of great people. I made so many friends in this show that I probably never would have met if I didn’t join. After weeks of preparations, opening night finally came around, and it was amazing. The costumes looked great, the lights were beautiful, and all of the actors did a great job. As the nights progressed, we got better and better, and on our second Friday performance we sold out! The two weekends that we put on the show were some of the best days I have had at Juniata. Getting to hang out with new friends doing something that I love has been one of the highlights of my college experience so far.

Overall, the show was amazing, and I cannot wait to see what the theatre department can do later in the year. I definitely want to continue to do shows here at Juniata, and would recommend to anyone who is thinking about auditioning for shows in college to do it; you will have the time of your life and make memories that you will never forget.

-Juliana Shugar ’23, Spanish and Secondary Education POE,
Disney-loving ice cream connoisseur