Thursday, February 12, 1998
Break a leg
REAL BRUINS: From long classes and practices to shows, theater
students know their major is an intense mind and body workout
By Rachel Munoz
Daily Bruin Staff
When Alexis woke up Monday morning promptly at 10, he began an
out of body experience that would continue for almost four hours.
He was neither close to death nor bedridden with a serious illness.
He was just doing his homework.
Alexis Camins is a second-year theater student whose acting
class this quarter requires more than just the average stage
performance.
His homework this week was to actually become the character of
Jamie from Eugene O’Neill’s "A Long Day’s Journey Into Night."
"The students dressed and behaved as this character," explained
Professor Sandra Carus, who teaches Camins in his acting class.
"They did background improvisations to get to know their characters
better."
When class began at 11 a.m., the 16 students in the class were
required to interact with each other as each of their characters
would.
And that was only Monday morning.
However, Camins believes that students in other majors have a
hard time taking theater classes and this type of homework
seriously.
"People not in theater would find it very hard to believe that
we are actually trying to do something here," he said.
He dismisses the notion that "contrary to popular belief,
theater students do not have midterms or finals." He assures that
there are papers, coursework, character analysis and a lot of
technical stuff.
"We have to take a lot of history and a lot of analytical stuff.
It’s more than just acting," said Brian Bennitt, a second-year
theater student.
Anastasia Torrent, also a second-year theater student, believes
that the theater major demands knowledge in many aspects of
life.
"It’s every major combined," she said. "You never know what you
are going to need. You have to understand people, lighting, random
things."
When acting is the focus, Camins can definitely tell if someone
has not practiced their scene. To practice correctly, "you have to
read the play and then drown yourself in the play," Camins
offers.
Derek Kent, a friend of Camins and a second-year theater
student, stresses that acting is a lot more work than it
appears.
"People don’t realize how hard it is to act everyday. It is a
lot of pressure everyday to be at your top form," he said.
Carus feels that that her theater students are very committed.
"They have a lot of talent and take it very seriously."
Perhaps this serious nature in which theater students address
their classes and performances demands Carus to continually push
the students.
"The challenge is to not (let the students) get away with what
comes easily to them," she said. "And to make them play notes they
don’t usually play.
"To make them willing to look foolish and be uncomfortable" is
another challenge, Camus continues. "Not to entertain each other,
but to inhabit the characters they play so they are really living
that life."
A few hours later, Camins has successfully completed his out of
body experience. At 2:00 p.m., he walked out of his acting class in
McGowan Theatre with his character Jamie long forgotten.
For a brief hour in Ackerman, Camins is allowed to relax and be
himself over lunch with friends in his same acting track.
An acting track differs each quarter and consists of three
classes amounting to 10 units. Tracks vary in content throughout
the four years a theater student spends in school.
The freshmen track doesn’t encompass any acting, which is why
Camins believes that a lot of people drop out of the program.
"I didn’t mind too much, but some people are just really
impatient," Camins said. "You just have to bite the bullet your
first year."
And although he will get plenty of acting practice this year, as
a junior he will have to concentrate on the history of theater and
plans on writing a lot of papers.
This quarter, Camins, along with about 10 other students in his
same track are taking classes in acting, voice and movement.
"The first two weeks we just breathed," Camins said of his
Tuesday and Thursday morning voice class. "We give each other
massages because it is supposed to relax the body. This is
important because breathing is hindered by stress."
Camins explains that four students work on massaging one student
at a time and from this grows many close friendships.
"We do a lot of touching stuff and emotional stuff," he said.
"We are like family. You really expose yourself. We trust each
other so much."
Unfortunately for the students, the final will not include any
of the new massage methods they might be perfecting. Camins
believes that it will include a monologue and a written final.
Friday’s three-hour movement class usually encompasses an hour
and a half of stretching while the remaining time in the class is
devoted to other exercise.
"The midterm will incorporate an acting scene with movement,"
Camins said. "The final will be character work with movement."
Although the movement and voice classes might appear useless,
"It is a process and at the end there is a result," Camins
assures.
After his pizza lunch, Camins has to race to office hours
required by his English professor, only a precursor to the two-hour
English class which follows immediately afterward.
Despite the learning and teaching methods that differentiate
theater from humanities or science classes, Camins doesn’t get
bored.
"I’ve been having really good professors," he said. "You learn
how to work whatever you’re learning into how you think about
theater. It is information for the pocket."
However, one myth is that theater is just an easy way out for
the inability to succeed in any other field.
"I want to dispel the myth that we are lazy and can’t do
anything else," Kent said. "We can’t fall asleep in class. We have
to put 100 percent effort in all the time."
Bennitt adds another important aspect to receiving a degree in
theater at UCLA.
"This is our passion. This is something that we have to be sure
of," he said. "We can’t double-major or have a minor. In this major
we are risk-takers."
Bennitt also mentions that there is not a job just waiting for a
theater student when he or she graduates from college, as may be
the case for student graduating with other degrees.
As soon as English class has ended, Camins hurries to Hedrick
Hall to conduct a practice for his one-act performance, titled "New
York Stories."
"I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited," Camins
said. "We already have our cast." Fourteen actors and actresses
have been cast for the production and will be under the direction
of five students.
Between now and when the show goes up during 10th week, Camins
plans to spend at least six to seven hours a week directing.
As soon as practice is finished for "New York Stories," Camins
has time to grab a bite to eat before heading back to campus at 8
p.m. for yet another practice: the rehearsal for Pilipino Culture
Night, held eighth week of spring quarter.
Camins’ role in the show only involves movement, but still will
require about four to six hours a week of his time.
But it doesn’t stop there. Camins is also the director character
in the production of "A Chorus Line," expected out during the
second week of spring quarter. The Tuesday and Thursday practices
are three hours long, taking yet another chunk out of his week.
After returning to his dorm room at about 10 p.m., Camins
skipped any homework he might have had, passed up the call of a
comfortable bed and headed out on a date.
Camins’ day lasted over 17 hours, but the long days are nothing
new to many theater students. Torrent insists that 12-14 hour days
are common. Things like spending a lunch with her friends is a
rarity.
But Kent said there are advantages to being a theater student.
"You get to do what you really love everyday."