A stack of shoes sits near the entrance, dark walls, bright lights, a ballet barre and mirrors cover the wall. 

Voices sing the same song in chorus, dance numbers are practiced and actors memorize their lines.

The University of Kentucky Theatre and Dance students bring their performances to life.

“After all my morning classes, I do a tour shift at the University of Kentucky Visitor Center, go to take lunch, do some homework and then I go straight to rehearsal,” actor Grace Hensley said.  

For Hensley, being around her castmates, making some jokes during rehearsal and laughing together brings a sense of community.

“This sense of community is what motivates me to go to rehearsal every day. I have met incredible people in theater and I know that they count on me for this production,” Hensley said.

For actor Semajé Thornton, putting characters together, telling stories, trying new things and working with people who enjoy doing the same as her, motivates her to continue with this art.

“It’s always an incredible experience, working with everyone and learning new things, there are people running lights, rails and music, theater can’t happen without all of these people,” Thornton said.

According to Zander Chojnacki, theater is the only thing that he could see himself doing for the rest of his life.

“When it was time to go to college, I started to question myself what I would want to do for the rest of my life and theater was the only thing that came to my mind,” Chojancki said. 

Hensley expressed that she acts because she sees this art as way more than an extracurricular, that this could be her life.

The connection for some of these students with theater also has deep ties with their past.

“My dad is an actor, so I have always been surrounded by it. He used to take me to his rehearsals and everyone used to show me what they were doing, dances, songs, how they adjusted lights during the plays,” Thornton said.

For Thornton, Hensley and Chojnacki, theater also plays a big part in their personalities: giving them confidence, empathy and respect. 

According to the actors, theater allows them to improve skills such as self-awareness, public speaking and collaborative work.  

“When you are being in such a collaborative space, it’s important to hear other people out, theater has helped me to be more open to others’ opinions and viewpoints,” Chojnacki said.

For those on stage, as with every other art discipline, theater also has its challenges.

According to Thornton, there are times when group chemistry is not there, and it is hard to work with “selfish people,” who don’t take critique in a good way.

“As actors we face a lot of comparisons, it is hard to not have that mentality, especially when you are surrounded by talented people,” Hensley said. 

Chojnacki said that the time they put into theater sometimes can be a struggle for the time needed to take care of themselves and their mental health. 

“But it’s paid off, even if you are not the main character, we are constantly doing something on stage, it’s knowing that something in which everyone put so much time went well,” Thornton said. 

For Hensley, being on stage or in the audience gives her memorable moments such as hearing her own voice, the warmth of the lights when she is on stage and the applause after a play.

It’s also how plays tell stories about morality, ambition and love that resonates with her, not just as an actor, but also as a person and part of the audience, Hensley said.

“The engagement of the audience is what gives me joy, being able to watch people react to theater, talk about it afterward and see what people got from it,” Chojnacki said.

For director Nancy Jones, on a college campus, it is important to do things that aren’t just purely entertaining, that develop our students and audience, showing what theater can do.

In the future, these actors look forward to continuing acting and making this art their way of living.

“I have been in three shows back to back, so for next semester I might take a brief recess, but in the future, I would like to act in more local productions in the Lexington area,” Thornton said.

After getting an internship in New York with ‘iTheatrics’ last summer, adapting large productions into children’s plays, Hensley looks forward to working with them again.

“The students who do this are amazingly devoted to the art form, to our department and to our community,” Jones said. 

To Jones, these students want to keep theater alive and make sure that our audience is having a good time when they come to shows.

For them, theater is more than just an art form, it’s a journey of growth, collaboration and dedication.