Alright, not quite. But things are pretty hectic here on campus, especially for a tour guide. We're all picking up extra tours, sporting our name-tags a few times a week to give our beloved GW spiel. And with the tours come the questions. I was lucky enough, on a 30-person tour, to get my all-time favorite question, "How does Student Theatre work here at GW?" "You have asked the right person", I get to say. For those who are interested, here goes the GW Theatre set.
GW has a Theatre and Dance Department, and they usually do roughly two shows a semester in the Betts Marvin Theatre inside the Marvin Center. However, it is even more prevalent and popular on campus to get your theatre fix not through the department, but through student theatre. We have three resident theatre companies on campus: Generic Theatre Company, Forbidden Planet Productions and 14th Grade Players. The companies are self-sufficient, but we all lend a helping hand to one another here and they tend to advocate for the others' productions. While it is common to do shows cross-companies, they have "types" of shows they are known to put up: Generic leans towards straight plays, FPP towards musicals, and 14th towards Shakespeare and farce. Not to say they don't stray; those are just more of the norm.
Each company has its own student board of directors, ranging from the top Executive Producers to Associate Producers who function almost like interns under another board member, chosen by the current board through applications. These people make the magic happen. They run the productions, from the budget to the space to the costumes. And who chooses the shows? That's what makes student theatre unique.
We have a proposal program in student theatre, where fellow students get to propose a show that they would like to direct the following semester. All proposees go through a rigorous process, including interviewing, blocking demonstrations, lighting and set designs, etc. The most convincing proposals are selected by the boards of whatever company it is proposed to, and they announce their next 3-4 show season. In other words, you are choosing the shows that you are performing in.
The actors range from theatre majors to the occasional graduate student trying their hand. You have seasoned thespians - the Drama Club kings and queens of high schools abound - and newbies who are looking for a place to meet some new people. The community is welcoming and open to both. Student Theatre requires no prior experience, just enthusiasm and an audition, usually consisting of a cold reading (meaning part of the script that you are given day of). The audition process is very casual and informal and certainly not intimidating, and if and when you're cast in a production, you are enveloped in a new community. Rehearsals are usually at night, anywhere from 7 PM to midnight, and usually take place in open classrooms in Rome Phillips hall - the Columbian College center - or residence hall basements. The productions go up in either the Lisner Downstage on Foggy Bottom, or Pelham Theatre on the Mount Vernon campus, both fully-equipped black box theatre that scream student theatre.
So, why do it? For the experience is the best way I can answer. The term "cast bonding" is thrown around campus a lot, which consists of the cast of a show getting together outside of rehearsals to hang out and get to know each other on a more personal level. Cast parties after openings are usually free-for-alls for the entire theatre community. The underlying theme of the whole process is not about busting students to a flawless production; it's more about the experience, the laughs, and the fun in the journey. Basically, they're here to have fun - your director, your Executive Producer and other board members, your castmates, and beyond. And it's not just limited to actors - those who can work tech, lighting and sound are jewels to the companies, and you will be regaled as high, if not higher, than the kids reciting lines beneath the lights. There is a place for everyone, and I think that's why we all do it - we belong somewhere.
Anything I missed that you want to know about what we do? Interested in joining the community? Show me love at gmdepalo@gwmail.gwu.edu. I should probably go run my lines. ;)
See you around campus,
Gina Michele
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