BWW Blog: Amanda Grillo - Theatre Bug Infects the Campus: Faculty Perspective

Last week I shared the growth of the University of New Haven's Theatre Department from the student perspective. Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with a few of the faculty to hear their views of the program's growth.

As mentioned in last week's post, our spring production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It featured more than just student actors. Each showing was complete with a special guest appearance to portray the role of Hymen. There was a new Hymen for each showing, portrayed by faculty of the University. Our Hymens included University President Steven Kaplan, Dean of Arts and Sciences Lourdes Alvarez, University Chaplin Marty O'Connor, and Director of Bands Jason DeGroff. I had the pleasure of talking with As You Like It's director, Dr. Jessica Silsby Brater, as we discussed her inspiration for such a unique production, in particular having Hymen be a fresh face every night.

When asked her logic, she explains "Since Hymen is a god and appears out of nowhere and from another world entirely, it seemed fitting to parallel and maybe even enhance that structure by casting an audience member." As an audience member and Assistant Set Designer to the production, I immediately found myself intrigued immediately when the concept was brought to my attention. Dr. Brater continues, "As You Like It is also a play that consciously references its own status as a play, most notably in the "all the world's a stage speech" and in the epilogue. I tried to underline this in the staging by having actors enter and exit through the house. Bringing an audience member onto the stage at the end seemed like a logical extension of this choice."

Now having a new person each night, who most of them didn't have theatre experience prior to this, seems like it can be difficult. How were Hymens chosen? What was their rehearsal time like? Dr. Brater discloses to us, "We scheduled the production for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and part of the idea of doing so was to make his work visible across campus so we selected guest stars with that in mind. The students also participated in choosing guest stars-for example, Dean Alvarez has been very supportive of the Theater Program and the cast was eager to have her as one of the Hymens. Of the guests, she probably spent the most time with us in rehearsal at an hour, but we designed the requirements for the role (which is small to begin with) to require a minimum of rehearsal so that it would be easy for guests to step in."

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Director of Bands, Jason DeGroff. He portrayed Hymen for closing night of the production. I was lucky enough to hear his thoughts on being a part of the production and his views on the growth of the arts at the University. Prior to this experience, DeGroff had never taken part in theatre before. Though it was a smaller part that didn't come in until the final scene, he went on to explain that there was no real establishing moment for his character. He just arrived and it was the first full ensemble moment of the show. He rehearsed only once with the cast due to time commitments, but DeGroff still managed to be off book for the show.

Being the Director of Bands, Jason DeGroff has seen not only the music program grow, but the theatre program as well. In my conversation with him, he shared that the number of majors and minors have grown and many students involved in the theatre program aren't even majors at all. In addition, he shared that many of his band students also take part in the theatre department, whether it be performing, pit orchestra, or behind the scenes. He feels that both departments really work in tandem and that it truly is a group effort to provide students a welcoming environment that they can consider their happy place.

In discussion with professor and playwright, Jonathan Yukich, I was able to get his view on the growth of the program since he first came to the University three years ago.

"The theater major at UNH has only been around for five years. When I started at UNH, three years ago, there were only five theater majors; next fall there will be over 30 majors and close to 20 theater minors. That is a remarkable period of growth. We are one of the fastest growing programs on campus. I attribute this to a thorough, well-rounded curriculum that provides students excellent training in the classroom; the quality of our productions; the astounding energy and commitment put forward by our terrific students and faculty; the expanding amount of internships and other opportunities our students are securing beyond UNH; the rapid growth of our Theater Club/student cabaret; our growing reputation with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival; as well as the word of mouth that spreads as a result of the energy, quality and enthusiasm our program is producing."

The growth of the program is thanks to not only our energetic and passionate student body, but our equally enthusiastic and dedicated professors as well. Yukich continues to share that, "In addition to our majors and minors, many more UNH students, from a variety of disciplines, contribute to our program each year through our productions. While they may not be majoring of minoring, they love the theater and are looking for a creative outlet. We provide this, and welcome these students every way we can."

The University of New Haven's Theatre Department grows with every production and it is thanks to faculty and students working together to make it all worth wild. To quote Jonathan Yukich once more, "When you take part in the Theater Program, you become part of our community. We work together, learn together, laugh together, and grow together. There is nothing else like it. Once students experience this, they want more. They become part of our theater family and community."

Stay tuned for more articles about the University of New Haven Theatre Program when school is back in session this fall!

Coming Soon: Production Withdrawl: Dealing with a Long Gap Between Shows

Photo Credit: Katie McGoff

To post a comment, you must register and login.