Take a look at a survey listing the top college student
activities on any given Saturday night, and going out to see a
theatrical production would probably be found lurking near the
bottom.
These days, theater is stereotyped as boring and antiquated, as
in opposition to youth and daring. Many students have yet to
realize that in fact, here on campus, theater created by and for
the younger generation is readily available.
UCLA’s theater department, one of the nation’s top
theater programs and recently accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Theatre, hosts a variety of unique shows
throughout the year, many of which are completely written, produced
and filled by UCLA students.
Daniel Ionazzi, director of production for the theater
department, is involved with every production put on by the school,
each of which he feels is something that couldn’t be found
elsewhere, and would strongly appeal to students.
“The principal thing that makes our productions different
from others is the incorporation of the perspective of these
students ““ their age, their experience,” Ionazzi
said.
“This is an educational experience; the students are
exploring and trying things out,” he continued.
“It’s their time to experiment, test and see what
thrills them and inspires them, and hopefully some of that is
transmitted to the audience when they come to see these
plays.”
Students work hours upon hours preparing for and delivering
these productions, in addition to all their other school work,
according to theater department chair Bill Ward.
Each play must be assembled, practiced and perfected within the
short 10-week quarter. According to Ionazzi, the theater department
has a staff of well-trained professionals for each area of the
production, such as set and costume design, but they are only there
to instruct and help.
The amount of work is so large some students already began
working in July on two productions for fall quarter:
“Marriage of Bette and Boo” by Christopher Durang, and
“Cloud Nine” by Caryl Churchill. The plays will be
performed in repertory, meaning both plays will alternate being
shown during the given amount of time of their run.
Christine Roldan, a third-year graduate student in lighting
design, is working on the lighting arrangement for both productions
and said she was looking forward to these two very different and
comedic plays in spite of the difficulty.
“”˜Bette and Boo’ and “˜Cloud Nine’
are two completely separate shows, with two completely different
sets and stories, and it’s very challenging to do them both
in the same place at once,” Roldan said.
While Roldan is excited about “Cloud Nine” due to
its poetic manner of dealing with relationships within families and
friends, as well as its interesting examination of gender, John
Matter, a second-year graduate student who is working on sound
design for the production said “Bette and Boo” is
equally intriguing.
“Christopher Durang is kind of sick because he’ll
make you laugh at things you know you’re not supposed to
laugh about ““ like dead babies … it kind of twists you a
little bit,” Matter said.
While the theater department puts on shows as part of an
educational experience, Theatre Underground is an official student
group of UCLA which consists of volunteer students who
independently produce programs for various reasons.
“Our mission really is to support and produce student
theater on campus, and give students from all majors a place to
come if they have something creative they want to put up,”
said Joy Vanides, a fourth-year undergraduate theater student and
president of Theatre Underground.
Since the theater department reserves its spaces mainly for its
own productions, students who want to put on their own shows can
come to Theatre Underground for assistance in finding and reserving
spaces on campus, Vandides said.
Last year the group produced 29 student shows, 25 of which were
put up during Theatrefest, an annual theater-crazed festival that
occurs every 10th week of spring quarter.
Vanides said no productions have been confirmed as of yet for
Theater Underground, but she expects to be busy once the year gets
started.
“I’m preparing for this year to be filled with a lot
more shows than in the past, and I’m really hoping to get
more people involved from outside of the theater department,”
she said. “Theater is all about collaboration and
there’s just so many people on this campus and I’m just
hoping to meet a lot more who want to be involved.”
THEATER: To get more info about upcoming theater department
productions visit www.tft.com. For more information concerning
Theatre Underground, visit
www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/theatreunderground.