It is a new year brimming with opportunities to get involved on campus, meet new friends, and better your future career skills. Why not try something different and head down to the Black Box Theatre in the basement of the Student Union? You might be surprised at what you find – a passion, perhaps?
So, what can Capital look forward to this year from the Theatre Department?
The first play performed will be “Chocolat” on Oct. 9-12. “Chocolat” is about a woman and her daughter who open up a chocolate shop in a small, conservative French village. “Xanadu” will follow “Chocolat” on Nov. 20-23. Students should still look for audition postings about the two remaining spring plays. You can stop by Dr. Daniel Heaton’s office in the basement of Huber-Spielman for more information about audition dates. The spring plays will be “How I Learned to Drive” and a one-act play festival.
Every year, the Capital Theatre Department provides students with many opportunities to get involved in the performing arts. One of these options is acting.
“It’s definitely helped me to become more receptive and able to adapt,” Connor Thompson, 2014 Theatre Studies alumnus, said. “It has also helped me to become more comfortable with breaking the ice in almost every social situation.”
Some people may think that being on stage is just not for them; however, auditioning is pretty painless.
Auditioning is as simple as walking into the Black Box Theatre and reading from the script.
“Sometimes I will ask them [people auditioning] to do things that involve movement so I can see how they take direction,” Dr. Daniel Heaton, communications professor, said.
Moving and reading at the same time is as hard as it gets when it comes to auditioning for Dr. Dan. People who are good public speakers or have a desire to better their skills for future jobs are highly encouraged to come to an audition at least once.
“I understand that some people get nervous about auditioning, but they should really just relax,” Dr. Dan said.
If you are still not convinced that being on stage is for you, then there are plenty of other opportunities to get involved with a production. Students can come to auditions and sign up to help with props, run crew, costumes, stage management, assistant directing, and board management, and more behind-the-scenes jobs. You can even get paid for it if the position is open year-round.
Jeff Gress also hires people to help with building and painting the various sets. Any one of these options is a good way to get your foot in the door before you make the auditioning leap to be on stage.
The directors select new scripts every year from a variety of criteria they need to meet. One of the criterion is a large cast list, especially for the first production.
“We try to get as many people involved as possible,” Dr. Dan said.
Another way to get involved with the Theatre Department is to join the Fat Tuesday Debutantes. This is a group of students who have an interest in improv. The group meets each week on Tuesdays from 5 – 5:50 p.m. in Huber-Spielman room 127. No experience is necessary. Fat Tuesday Debutantes have three live performances a year that they prepare for by playing improv games.
If you have been to one of their performances in the past, you might notice a change this year.
“Last year, Senior Theatre Studies major Connor Thompson did his capstone project about improv companies,” Dr. Dan said.
Thompson gave Dr. Dan the idea to try some alternative improv styles. One in particular is known as “long form” improv.
The long form improv style that will be used is called Harold. It differs from the shows that most students are familiar with because it encourages more group unity.
“The group has to be able to jive and feed off of one another,” Thompson said. “The format also didn’t really work well for the audience that we perform for.”
A large chunk of the shows were wasted on regrouping and regaining audience attention.
The Harold format will address this issue by only asking for one scenario from an audience member. That one scenario will then determine the show.
“It is sort of like improvising a 30 minute sitcom with input from the audience,” Dr. Dan said.
This is a group that exists based on student interest; therefore, it is open to changing various improv formats that the students involved want to try.
“I’ve had a lot of people come to me and tell me that it was not what they were expecting and they are so glad they came because of how hard they were laughing,” Thompson said.
2014-2015 Theatre Schedule
“Chocolat”– Oct. 9-12, 2014
“Xanadu”– Nov. 20-23, 2014
“How I Learned to Drive” – Feb. 12-15, 2015
“One-Act Play Festival” – March 26-29
