Guest post by Assistant Professor, Nicholas Dunn
Last year, the theatre department made something new out of something old.
With the recently completed Meldrum Theatre and our department productions happening there and in the Babcock Theatre, our Studio 115 black box space in the old Performing Arts Building (next to the Campus Store) became available, and we created the Studio Series: A different production nearly every week of the semester! The most exciting thing about the Studio 115 Series to me—and what makes it different from our other productions—is that each production is independently produced, often entirely by students. The Studio Series is raw, experimental, and driven entirely by a desire to create something from the ground up.
Last year we featured 18 different projects, 11 of which were entirely new works created by students. We sold 2, 745 tickets to these projects, which ranged from fully realized shows, to new play readings, to student showcases, to a live game show. Not bad for a first year.
One of those students, playwright Cambria Thorley, had this to say about the Studio Series: “It’s basically a place for students to have experience for the things they are going to do out there in the real world, so they have more opportunity in addition to the regular theatre season.”
Cambria’s original play Onxy Rest was a big hit last year. She continues: “My play started in the Intro to Playwriting class, then I took the advanced playwriting class, and then went into the New Plays Workshop class where that play was continually worked. We were able to put it on its feet, do some improv and I figured out some cool scenes, until eventually I was encouraged to submit it to Studio 115, which was very exciting. Also, I had no idea how to produce a play. So, I reached out to everyone I knew. I got a great director and a great stage manager from our stage management program here and we sent out a casting call… It was really fun to see it come to life.”
The Studio 115 Series gives our students a lab space to practice and explore what they’re learning in the classroom, from writing, acting and directing to production and stage management, designing, and marketing a show. What I love about it most is that it empowers our students to build teams and make theatre themselves and take ownership of their craft.
I’m very excited to build upon what the students and participants accomplished last year. Tickets are pay-what-you-may and of course, the student ArtsPass will get you in. The Studio 115 Series is truly an arts incubator and an amazing place to celebrate and connect with artists and creators of tomorrow. Hope to see you there.
