Student Blog: Sandbox Student Productions: Bringing Social Justice to the Forefront of Theatre

The first show I performed in as a first year at Butler University was Secondary Orality. It was a staged reading put on by Sandbox Student Productions. Sandbox is a student run company. We are not officially a Butler club, but we are able to use the blackbox theaters with permission from the department. We are centered around social justice theatre and try to put on a number of readings of scripts each school year, highlighting a different, relevant charity with each reading. We also help new writers carry out workshops for scripts they are working on. Being a part of Secondary Orality was a great experience for me. It allowed me to flex my acting skills even while not cast in a main stage and allowed me to work with students from the department which was huge because I was a very shy first year.

In one of my first semester classes that year, I was asked what my 'idea of theatre' was. I had no clue. I think I said something about how it allows me to be seen for a brief moment but under the protection of a character. A very freeing feeling for an introvert like myself. And though that sentiment is still true, the more I worked with Sandbox, the more I realized what an impact theatre can have on the world at large, not just myself. I began to see that theatre is something people pay attention to. You can tell people facts about the issues of today until you're blue in the face, but theatre invites them into the world of said issues. It allows people to have an emotional connection to them. It motivates people, pushes people to take action.

I became Sandbox's resident dramaturg my sophomore year, and from that role I made so many valuable connections. I was in charge of contacting the playwrights of all the scripts we were interested in performing a reading of. I was able to speak to some truly amazing writers. I also made more connections within Butler itself. Sandbox casts not only from within the theatre department but from outside as well. I have met some really amazing people on campus who share the same passions as me. I became more connected to my peers on the Sandbox executive team as well. One of them being Natalie Fischer, a recently graduated Butler alum and former Artistic Director of Sandbox. In this quote, Natalie explains what Sandbox meant to her:

"When I became a part of sandbox, I was able to immerse myself in a collaborative, social justice theatre space as well as grow my passion of activism in the arts. I quickly found out how important it is to be a part of a company which allows young voices to create and have open table discussions on how to invite social justice into theatre. Not only did I gain experience that will help me throughout my career while in sandbox, but I also met incredible artists who I look forward to working with in bringing more activism into this industry."

As Natalie became closer to graduating, she brought up the idea of running for Artistic Director to me. I was stunned. I had thought about running but wasn't really sure I would be the best option. Natalie's confidence in me really was life changing. No one had ever been so confident in my ability to lead and create before then. Now here I am, going into my senior year and the new Artistic Director of Sandbox Student Productions.

If you're interested in what we do, go ahead and check out our website and social media! You can find us on Instagram and Facebook, and our website is https://sandboxstudentprod.wixsite.com/butler. To all new writers out there, we'd love to workshop some of your work! Our website has details on how to contact us.

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