The lights are on and the set is made; senior Emily Lim is found center stage. Whether it be as a castmate or crewmate, Lim has been involved in West’s Fine Arts since her freshman year. Even before getting to high school, she had taken a liking to theater. 

“I started doing theater around fifth grade. I got into theater because I started taking voice lessons leading up to fifth grade and my voice teacher encouraged me into auditioning for a musical that was being produced. I tried out for it and I ended up booking the lead. It was Suessical Junior and I played Horton. Since then I’ve found a love and a passion for performing and theater,” Lim said. 

The love and passion Lim has gained from her time in theater also helped her discover more about herself.

“I also think that theater interestingly enough has helped me discover so much about my identity as of who I am, so it really helped me develop a concept and understanding of what it means to be Asian American just in terms of seeing either a lack of or presence of diversity representation. So seeing those developments in theater helped me with my identity,” Lim said. 

It is spectacular how far Lim has come through her passion for fine arts, and Niles West is lucky to have her. Playing many different roles, Lim has proven that she could really do it all.

“I think that being the only person of color definitely made me feel proud in terms of knowing that when I was younger I was always in awe when I saw people of color or people that look like me on stage. I hope I was able to give that to the audience,” Lim said. 

Lim’s character in ‘A Kid Like Jake’ required work, dedication, and consideration. “In context, Judy’s character as the preschool director, part of her job is getting Jake into the competitive highly selective kindergartens,” Lim said. 

Under the umbrella of topics that ‘A Kid Like Jake’ covers, is the discussion and relations with gender identity which are held close to Lim’s mind during her portrayal of Judy. “I think it’s important to note that Judy is a member of the LGBTQ+ community but personally I identify as a straight cis-gendered female so of course, Judy in herself has a different emotional approach and a different emotional connection than how I as myself approach to gender. But I do see similarities between us and on how gender affects but it definitely affects Judy in a different way than it affects me,” Lim said. 

Lim enjoys the environment of the theater and how close she’s gotten to a variety of people and the overall sense of unity felt on stage. “Theater has helped me find a really strong sense of community within the people that I’m with. When you work on a lot of shows with the same people every single day for like three to four hours over the span of one to two months you really start to find a family within them,” Lim said.  

Senior and crewmate Evie Gallivan admires and appreciates Lim’s dedication to the production. “Emily’s performance as Judy was truly moving. Given the atmosphere of the Blackbox Theater and her wonderful acting, it felt like you were right there in the scene with her. And that accounts for every scene in this play. ‘A Kid Like Jake’ is an incredibly important play, and I am so glad we were able to showcase it here at Niles West,” Gallivan said. 

Director of ‘A Kid Like Jake’ and theater teacher Samuel Rose, praises Lim’s work and compliments her maturity and ability to portray a character like Judy, “It is an absolute pleasure to be Emily’s teacher and director. Emily is a fabulous student and actor who really cares about connecting with others and telling stories that are important and relevant and meaningful. I’m super proud of the work that they did during ‘A Kid Like Jake’ and the way that they approached the character with such grace and sensitivity and elegance,” Rose said. 

Rose sees Lim as someone with complete compassion.  “Something that Emily talked a lot about in that process was approaching a queer character but also being a cis-hetero-person who is approaching that and how you can do that with grace and integrity and elegance without being appropriative. Or without overstepping a line into trying to take on someone else’s culture. And I think they [the production] did a really beautiful job with that. I know that equity diversity and inclusion is something that’s so important and central to them as a human and it’s so clear how they can take that and bring it into their work as an actor and a student and I can’t ask for anything more as a teacher,” Rose said.  

“If the audience could take away one thing from the show it’s the importance of listening and being able to learn from your mistakes and being open to learning,” Lim said.