This past weekend, the Theater Arts Program (TAP) at Sacred Heart University went through the second stage of their annual TheaterFest, a three-part series where students develop and refine plays, which was taped and later posted to YouTube.
The second step of TheaterFest is the Black Box Staging phase. The Black Box theater is a minimalist approach to theater that emphasizes the script and ability of the actors over everything else.
“This staging helps the audience pay more attention to the true story and writing rather than be distracted by costumes or a set,” said junior Sarah Lindskog. “In traditional staging of plays, the characters would have props to use, costumes to become their character, and a set to help set the scene for the audience, to make it easier for them to understand the story.”
In the first phase, the plays came to the Reader’s Theater, where the script was read in front of an audience who gave constructive criticism. Plays that go to the third phase will present a full production of the play with props, costumes and more intricate set designs.
Lindskog takes on the role of one of the characters in the play “Worth the Wait,” which was written by Stephanie Patella and directed by Geralyn Jones. Alongside this play was “Something Blue,” written by Grace Curley and directed by Zach Gaeiro; “Get Stuffed,” written by Sellina Barnes and directed by Mae Archacki; and “Poser,” written by Mark Roberti and directed by Sam Deluise.
Junior Allison Campbell said, “It truly makes you work to be a better actor to tell the story with so little assistance from such things as costumes, props, or a set for the first two rounds. You have to use your acting skills to make a script come alive, and I think that is important as an actor, to trust yourself to bring a script off the page.” Campbell plays the character Neve in “Something Blue.”
Unlike in previous years, this year’s TheaterFest events were not open to the public. With original plans to stream the events, those in charge of TAP opted to post videos of the performances to YouTube for later viewing instead.
“This year is definitely a change. Usually, we would perform round one on the stage in the Little Theater, the cast sitting right next to each other in chairs as we do a full reading of the script for an audience. This year, we were spaced six feet apart on the Edgerton stage, wearing masks, to an audience of people spaced six feet apart sitting in designated chairs,” said Campbell.
“Another change is getting our temperatures checked before every rehearsal and even auditions to make sure the cast is healthy and able to be around one another while still maintaining social distance and wearing masks,” said Lindskog. “We do have to wear our masks during the performance, which is also new this year.”
Though there were several necessary changes to stay safe during the pandemic, TAP managed to work through them and produce four Black Box versions of the plays. While this year has been challenging and different from previous years, students are thankful for the opportunity to grow as members of TAP.
“Though this has been an odd experience, I cannot fathom to say how grateful I am that we have a program here at SHU that still allows students to write plays and learn and grow as actors, writers, and directors, regardless of the restrictions we must endure this year,” said Campbell.
