Leafing through her copy of the script for “It’s Our Town, Too,” Vaishnavi Murari (12) scans the words on the pages before stopping at a scene. As she moves through the lines, instinct takes over, and Vaishnavi effortlessly gives out stage directions, turning the park into her stage. 

Vaishnavi has constantly immersed herself into the world of performing arts, whether through acting, singing or dancing. This journey began when she joined the choir Harmonics as a middle schooler. 

“If you were in Harmonics, which is like the show choir, you had to perform in the musical. That’s how I discovered musical theater, and then musical theater led to me discovering theater because I wanted to become a better actor, as well as a singer,” Vaishnavi said. “Then dance also got folded in with musical theater because freshman year for ‘42nd Street,’ I started taking tap. That’s when I decided to become a serious dancer, to actually try things and improve my dance.”

While Vaishnavi has always participated in the fall play, the spring musical and Student Directed Showcase (SDS), she realized her full potential as an actor last year when she performed in “Marvin’s Room,” which was directed by Joel Morel (‘20).  

“I don’t think I’ve ever been pushed more in a role than I had for [Marvin’s Room] because not only was I in every single scene, I was majorly featured in every single scene,” Vaishnavi said. “It was a character who’s so different from me, in every single way that I really had to get more creative about how I portrayed her. After I did that role, I fell into this mindset of, ‘Okay, I’m an actor now’ because before I really saw myself as a singer who acts sometimes.”

After one of her SDS directors encouraged her to follow her desire to direct, Vaishnavi applied for SDS herself, and she was chosen as one of the four directors. The play she chose, “It’s Our Town, Too,” stemmed from her wish to find a work that “was relevant to today.”

“I really like stories where there is more of a takeaway than, ‘Oh, that was so sad,’” Vaishnavi said. “The play that I did end up choosing, it has a lot of messages that are relevant to COVID because it’s about family and it’s about love and what happens when you lose a loved one. It also ties in messages about gay rights and gay marriage, that I think are always important, and I wanted to share those messages with the Harker community.”

 Apart from directing her own show, Vaishnavi also supported her fellow directors, which was something that Alexander Kumar (12) valued. 

“When we all finally got to watch each other’s shows, Vaish texted me just to tell me some of the stuff that she liked about my show, and we talked a little bit about each other’s shows,” Alexander said. “She’s empathetic, and she noticed things about my show that I didn’t even fully notice. She made a point of texting me to say, ‘I saw this, and I liked this,’ and that’s a representation of who she is.”

Performing arts director Laura Lang-Ree notes that Vaishnavi’s strengths include being “a wise leader,” “a compassionate friend” and “a careful, thoughtful planner.” From first watching Vaishnavi perform in “Guys and Dolls” in middle school to now watching her direct her own show, Lang-Ree has watched Vaishnavi grow into a “tremendous force of nature as an artist.”

“She became a little bit shy freshman year. She had these amazing ideas in her head, but she’d be a tiny bit shy about articulating them. That’s not uncommon in freshman year, but what was different was that it was all there,” Lang-Ree said. “She knew exactly what she wanted to convey, so the transition from watching her have these amazing ideas in her head to being able to do whatever she wants on stage is awesome.”

Beyond performing arts, Vaishnavi dedicates time to both baking and sewing, with one of her proudest accomplishments being making a dress out of her mother’s old beach cover up. 

“I did a lot of research. I looked into how to make patterns and how to put lining together,” Vaishnavi said. “It was hard because I’m not great at the whole measurement and fitting things to yourself thing. So I’d try something, and it wouldn’t work. Then I’d rip it apart and try something else, but eventually after a month of working on it every single day, I made a dress, and it’s in my closet right now.”

Vaishnavi also always places an emphasis on helping out those around her, whether it’s by grabbing a napkin for a friend or assisting with moving a heavy piece of equipment on set. 

“I don’t want to be that person who’s so wrapped up in their own world that they don’t really interact with the people around them,” Vaishnavi said. “A good way to form deeper relationships with the people around you is by helping them out with something.”

Nilisha Baid (12), who has been close friends with Vaishnavi since third grade, noticed her willingness to always look out for others and help them succeed. 

“The main thing is she’s always there for me whenever I need anything at all,” Nilisha said. “What really makes it meaningful is all of the small things that she does that show how much she cares and how much she wants to help you and be there for you. She’ll literally always be there for you no matter what.”