Actress decides to pursue theater in college after participating in unique plays

During the opening night performance of “Love and Information,” senior Hannah Yoon and her castmates took their positions and struck individual poses which they had spent hours practicing to perfection.

The audience erupted into laughter.

Yoon was performing in Caryl Churchill’s play “Love and Information” in a summer program called the National High School Institute (NHSI).

“There was a moment where we all had to suddenly do this pose and act like we were really surprised while looking at the audience,” Yoon said. “We never realized how funny it was until opening night of that play. It’s so cool when you put something on stage and the audience reacts differently from what you would think.”

Since the first time she performed in a musical in middle school, Yoon has acted in many shows, including all the Saratoga High mainstage shows and some shows outside of school.

“It’s a great way to spend your energy and time,” Yoon said. “I can’t spend all my energy doing schoolwork. I have to be doing something else.”

Yoon said she enjoys being in plays because it allows her to learn about others’ experiences and expands her view on the world. She said that her favorite theater experience was performing in “Love and Information,” because she had never worked on a surrealist play before.

“It’s really hard to describe surrealist plays, but no one in the cast is a named role,” Yoon said. “The script itself has no characters. It’s just lines and lines of text and it doesn’t give any context, so there aren’t any roles. The play is about whatever you want it to be about, since its up to anyone’s interpretation.”

These extracurricular experiences have helped Yoon tremendously. They led her to pursue a double major in theater and communication studies at Northwestern University, where NHSI was held. She ended up choosing Northwestern over other universities mainly due to the flexibility of its theater program. It not only allows a diverse combination of double majors, but also explores all the types of jobs in the theater industry.

In addition to continuing acting, she has started to explore other aspects of the performing arts, such as lighting designs, stage managing, and working backstage.

“Knowing myself as a person, if I didn’t have theater in my life, I wouldn’t be happy,” Yoon said. “If I just watched a play once or twice a month with a desk job, I wouldn’t be happy. I know that I want my job to be involved with theater productions in any way, shape, or form.”

Yoon said that due to her ethnicity, her choice to pursue theater as a major sometimes draws confused looks.

“As an Asian, I feel that the Asian-American community, [in Saratoga] especially, could do a better job of encouraging creativity in their kids,” Yoon said. “Realize that as an artist, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be poor, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a successful career, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a successful life.”