Acting as Means of Self-Discovery

From the time of Deanna Mazina’s first childhood acting role in the “Jungle Book,” she has been hooked on theater.  Since that grade school role, the high school senior has been involved both on stage and behind the scenes throughout her years in the Swampscott school system. She has rounded out her experience through pageants with an acting component, the Barbizon Acting School in Boston, an acting contract with a New York agent, and a theatre course at school.    

The exposure to acting has helped Mazina in many ways, including giving her more confidence.  

“As an actor,” she said, “I have learned about myself, but also about how each individual has a back story. I owe this knowledge to acting.”

Through these experiences, Mazina also learned that she has a good speaking voice, which she has been putting it to good use making the daily announcements at SHS. Poetry has been another unexpected outlet for her talents. She has successfully combined her affinity for speaking and drama by placing second in the school’s Poetry Out Loud (recitation) contest as a junior. This year, she is a finalist in the Lee Golomb Cadiff Poetry contest for an original poem.

The daughter of Boris and Irina Mazina, Deanna said that her high school theatre and Dramafest experiences have been particularly impactful.

“I loved doing ‘Godspell’, ” she said. “And the ‘Laramie Project’ was really powerful. I got a lot out of it. I was able to see what an impact a show can have. It is more than a story, it can actually affect people.”

Her experience behind the scenes has been important to her too. Assisting with the costumes “gave me more appreciation about what everyone else does, and helped me to understand what else was happening beyond onstage.” 

Her advice? “Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the part you want. There is always a different opportunity.” 

In her final high school role this spring, Mazina is playing Go-to-Hell Kitty in “Chicago,” and next year in college she hopes to continue to participate in productions.

“I don’t think I can cut theater out of my life,” she said.