Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre once barred female actors from the stage.
Four centuries later, Tamara Williams was disappointed to find that actors outside of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television had no available avenue for theater participation.
Williams, a fifth-year English student who currently acts as managing director of HOOLIGAN, said a speech class that she took in 2006 helped spawn the democratic theater company. She realized, as her fellow students shared their aspirations, that she was not alone in wishing for a theatrical outlet accessible to students outside of the TFT school.
At the time, the TFT school had not yet developed a theater minor and only two amateur theater groups existed. One offered Shakespearean productions, and the other offered improvisational works.
“There wasn’t really anything for everybody,” Williams said.
“So one day I said, “˜Well, let’s start a theater company.’ And I walked down to (the Center of Student Programming) and started a theater company with two of my friends. It’s been growing ever since.”
Lyle Barrere, fourth-year physics student and artistic director of HOOLIGAN, said that much of the company’s early strife originated with the struggle to prove its professionalism to theater faculty.
He said, “The first time we did a show in (Macgowan Hall’s) Little Theater, they asked us if we were going to make the sets out of cardboard. We said, “˜No, no, we’re going to use wood and make real sets.'”
Founding HOOLIGAN members kept the small group afloat by selling boxes of candy, hosting benefit nights at Rubio’s, and pouring their creative juices into the season’s productions.
Three years after its inception, the only thing smaller about the group is its name, which has been shortened from Honorable Order Of Licentious Instigators of the General Artist Network to HOOLIGAN. It now boasts a staff of up to 800 people per year, running a gamut of departments from the creative side to the business side.
Getting involved is simple. Each quarter, HOOLIGAN invites anyone interested in joining the cast to prepare a monologue or perform a cold reading. Those interested in joining the crew or staff need only to be interviewed.
“We ask really existential questions. “˜If you could be any power tool, what would you be?'” Barrere said.
In order to accommodate people of all majors and all experience levels, HOOLIGAN offers a series of workshops. “Upstage/Downstage” aims to put all participants on an even footing by teaching the basic lingo of theater. More advanced “hooligans” might enjoy the upcoming workshop led by Georgia Stitt, a vocal coach who is scheduled to give counsel for auditions and song interpretation.
Those with no experience at all become interns. Priscilla Watson, head costumer, said that she introduces her interns to the fundamentals of design by taking them to fabric stores in Los Angeles and inviting them to her apartment for some pointers on sewing.
Costume interns have the chance to take a creative lead by bringing in their fabric choices and ideas for ensemble costumes.
Barrere, who hopes that he will not be seeing a recreation of Bernadette Peters’ performance of the Witch in the group’s upcoming “Into the Woods,” said that group-fostered creativity is not uncommon in the HOOLIGAN community.
“We encourage the cast to come up with their own things and imagine the character. We have a lot of discussions where we say, “˜Why does the Witch do this? What’s going on here?’ It’s much like when you’re reading a book in English class in excruciating detail.”
Watson is putting her own spin on the traditionally basic costumes for the group’s next show. The Wolf, often portrayed as a sexual predator, will be appearing in the show in a leather, bondage-esque costume.
A fourth-year theater student, the head costumer credits some of her creative capacity to working with a diverse collection of people. She said that the theater department falls prey to the same problem that affects most upper-division departments.
“In the theater department you’re stuck in the same bubble with the same people. It’s really nice to be outside of that and take in criticism from different people from different majors.”
In the spirit of theater for everyone, HOOLIGAN has just initiated its own outreach program to teach theater to children of L.A. middle and high schools. Hooligans host workshops that educate children on how to give a solid audition, and they also invite students to a special matinee and Q&A session of each HOOLIGAN show.
“People like to say, “˜You’re just students. You’ll get to the real world one day.’ And I think (HOOLIGAN is) a real testament to the fact that you are in the real world now, and you are accomplishing huge things now.”