一个孩子从戏剧节中，真正带走的究竟是什么？

是技巧与奖项，还是那一阵轰然而过的掌声？

或是更深、更隐秘，却能陪伴他们更久的东西？

在刚刚落幕的2025深圳青少年戏剧节上，来自深圳国际交流书院的宋宇唅同学，用自己的故事给出了答案。

作为开幕式的选手代表，她回望了自己的六年戏剧之路——从最初的紧张怯场、连续多年与奖项失之交臂，到在一次次排练与演出中收获勇气与归属感。正如她所说：“戏剧让我明白，舞台上最重要的不是完美，而是勇气。”

在今年的戏剧节上，她也凭借扎实的实力，获得了即兴表演亚军的好成绩。

It was the year 2020 when little sixth-grade me first entered the YTF festival; wide-eyed, curious, and absolutely terrified. I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d only been doing drama for half a year, just an optional course at school. The thought of showing someone something that felt so personal made my legs turn to jelly. And the idea of competingfor it? Even worse.Blackout.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a room at Carleton School, surrounded by other contestants — some younger, some older, all of them just as nervous as I was. I performed a monologue from James and the Giant Peach. “Come here, little boy, and I will show you something extrodinary…” I missed a few lines. I forgot to hunch my back halfway, which meant my “old man” stood perfectly straight like he did hours of yoga. But honestly, the performance itself wasn’t what stayed with me. It was everyone else’s.

I didn’t win anything that year. In fact, I didn’t even make it into the preliminaries. The second year? Same story. Tried everything that I could; duologues, monologues, and and a half group scenes. In three years of passionate pursuit, I won absolutely nothing. 

But to be honest; despite that, in my early years of drama, when my performances were unrefined and my skills uncertain, I realized  had found something far more valuable than any award could bring me: a community.

那是2020年，六年级稚嫩的我第一次踏入YTF戏剧节的会场；睁大双眼，满怀好奇，却也害怕得不知所措。我完全不知道将会面临什么。当时我接触戏剧仅半年，那是学校的选修课。想到要将如此私密的创作展现给人看，我的双腿就发软。更别说还要比赛？简直糟透了。眼前一黑。

再回过神来时，我已坐在卡尔顿学校的教室里，四周都是参赛者——有的比我小，有的年长些，每个人都和我一样紧张。我表演了《詹姆斯与巨桃》中的独白。“过来，孩子，我要让你见识奇迹...”我忘了几句台词，演到一半忘了弓背，结果我扮演的“老先生”站得笔直，像练了多年瑜伽。但说实话，令我铭记在心的并非自己的表演，而是其他人的。

那年我什么奖都没拿到，甚至连初选都没进。第二年？重蹈覆辙。我尝试了所有形式：双人剧、独白剧、团体剧。整整三年热忱投入，我始终与奖项无缘。

但说实话，正是在戏剧生涯初期——当我演技稚嫩、技巧生涩时——我发现自己获得的远比任何奖项更珍贵：一个归属之地。

YTF fostered an environment unlike any other I’d experienced. It was a space where passion replaced competition, where creativity thrived through collaboration; individual success was hardly seen. And that is the beautiful truth of drama i’ve come to realize. Surrounded by people who shared the same love for storytelling, I discovered that theatre was not a just solitary pursuit, but a collective art. And this competition offered me just that. 

YTF is barely a competition. In here, there was magic in the atmosphere every time we were preparing out scripts in a collective room: the buzz concentration focus before a performance, the applause that echoed not just for talent, but for courage. Within this, I felt understood. It didn’t really matter that my old man was a professional yoga artist, or that spoke words sometimes that made no sense at all. What mattered was the shared devotion to creation — to bringing words to life and hearts to light.

And slowly, very slowly, my performance skills deepened. I even started placing theatre as an important part of my life; next year, I will be studying theatre in university; Maybe right now, you see me as someone unreachable. Someone talented, someone skilled; someone born to perform; I disagree. Without you, without all of you, I would not be standing here today, sharing my passion with the world.

这个戏剧节营造的氛围是我从未体验过的。在这里，激情取代了竞争，创意在协作中绽放，个人成败微不足道。这就是我领悟到的戏剧真谛。置身于这群热爱故事讲述的人们中间，我发现戏剧从来不是孤独的修行，而是集体的艺术。而这场比赛恰好给了我这样的体验。

戏剧节对我而言几乎不算竞赛。每当我们在准备室里打磨剧本时，空气中都弥漫着魔力：演出前全神贯注的嗡鸣，掌声回荡不仅为才华，更为勇气。在这样的环境里，我感到被理解。无论我的“老先生”像个专业瑜伽师，还是我偶尔语无伦次，这些都不重要。重要的是我们共同投身于创作——让文字获得生命，让心灵遇见光明。

渐渐地，非常缓慢地我的表演技巧有所精进。戏剧开始成为我生命的重要部分；明年我将在大学专修戏剧。或许此刻在你们眼中，我是遥不可及的——天赋异禀，技巧纯熟，为舞台而生。但我并不这么认为。没有你们，没有在座每一位，就不会有今天站在这里与世界分享热忱的我。

This is the true gift YTF offers me, and being here, will offer every single one of you. Theatre is not about perfection or prizes. It is about connection. About companionship. About the courage to reveal one’s emotions honestly and without fear, but most of all, the ability to feel happy for others just for their courage of performance. 

So, to every one of you, I share with you this gift that this festival has brought me; the gift of an encouraging community. You may be standing here with your own monologues; old men, young girls, cats wearing tutus performing ballerina; go for it! What’s the fun about winning; the fun is acting like a cat wearing a tutu and dancing on stage! To the younger actors, maybe it’s your first time stepping on this journey don’t be afraid of being imperfect. Every performer, no matter how extraordinary once stood trembling where you stand now, unsure, unpolished, and full of doubt. But that, is how every story begins. 

In drama, will never walk this path alone. You will be surrounded by people who will cheer for you, guide you, and remind you that every stumble is still a step forward. And when you continue that when, when you’re getting closer to the spark that will make your art shine, one day, that dream will no longer feel distant. It will be yours, bright and fleeting, like a shooting star, and the kind that appears only to those who never stop looking up.

这就是戏剧节赐予我的珍贵礼物，也是此刻它将要赠与你们的真谛。戏剧不在于完美无瑕或斩获奖项，而在于建立联结，在于相伴成长，在于坦诚无惧地袒露情感，更在于能为他人的表演勇气由衷喝彩。所以，我想与各位分享这份戏剧节赠与我的礼物：一个充满鼓励的集体。或许你正带着独白站在这里——无论是老先生、少女，还是穿着芭蕾裙的猫，尽情演吧！获奖有何乐趣？真正的乐趣在于能扮成穿芭蕾裙的猫咪在台上起舞！对于年轻演员们，也许这是你们征程的起点，不必害怕不完美。每个表演者，无论日后多么耀眼，都曾颤抖地站在你们此刻的位置，忐忑不安，稚拙生涩，满心疑虑。但所有传奇，正是这样开始的。

在戏剧道路上，你永远不会独行。总会有人为你欢呼，引导你，提醒你每次磕绊都是前进的足迹。当你持续前行，当你逐渐接近让艺术闪耀的火花，终有一天，梦想不再遥远。它会如流星般降临，明亮绚烂，只属于那些永远仰望星空的人。

宋宇唅同学的故事，早已超越了一场演出的成败。它如同一面镜子，映照出教育中那些比分数和名次更为珍贵的部分——心灵的成长、共情的能力与找到归属的温暖。

戏剧的意义，从来不是塑造完美的演员，而是启迪完整的人。它教会孩子们在角色中理解世界，在协作中感受支持，在掌声中收获勇气。

愿每一个曾站上这个舞台的孩子，都能带着这份独特的生命体验，在未来更广阔的人生舞台上，自信、从容地演绎属于自己的精彩篇章。