In May, local children will experience University life -- brought to them by the Drama department, that is. The final project for Drama Prof. John Frick's senior seminar is a performance for two different audiences of children.
"Part of the philosophy is trying to introduce students to the world beyond the University," Frick said.
The first half of the seminar consisted of teaching key people and topics of avant-garde theater. The second half has been devoted to the production of children's plays.
Since Frick's seminar was larger than he expected, he divided the class into two groups, each responsible for the planning, advertising, designing, blocking, costuming, transporting and acting of their respective plays. The faculty is only involved with securing royalties for the plays because of legal reasons, Frick said.
"The feeling is that having them do everything is good preparation for the outside world where they will do pretty much everything," Frick said.
A central requirement to the project is the touring element.
"These students haven't experienced touring," Frick said. "They have to design this play to go from a playground to a library to a school."
Fourth-year College student Laurie Geigel said the touring component especially helps make the class simulate a new theater company.
"We don't know if we're going to be performing on a stage or a classroom," Geigel said.
When Frick first assigned the project, he said his students had initial concerns, but most were eager to begin.
"For me especially, children's theater is the coolest experience," Geigel said.
The project may seem intimidating considering students run the productions from planning to performance, but students said this intense involvement attracted many to the class.
"I love costume design, but I'm on the acting track," Geigel said. "I'm getting to design" for this production.
Fourth-year College student Jenna Berk said Frick's seminar is a culmination of all the requirements for a Drama major.
"We've done classes dealing with set, lighting, sound, and we had to take a directing class," Berk said. "We've taken a smattering of it all, and this class is like taking a baby and throwing it in the water to see if it swims. This class tests how much you really remember."
Since Frick's seminar demands skills learned from each required class, fourth-year College student Emily Todd said she was not sure what to expect on the first day of class.
"The class itself has no precedent because the professor changes and so the class changes," Todd said. "Nobody knew what to expect. The basic premise of the class is to prepare you to go in the world of theater with usually some sort of synthesis of the rest of the major."
On top of each student's responsibility, Todd emphasized the environment of cooperation that is essential to a successful performance.
"Everyone has a specific role, but we're all responsible for contributing," Todd said.
The vital component of teamwork has presented problems, according to fourth-year College student Jen Lilley.
"The hardest part has been trying to figure out everyone's schedule," Lilley said. "Trying to get a performance date is immensely burdensome."
Berk added that coordinating the schedules can be a daunting task, especially for a group of fourth-year Drama majors.
"A lot of us are dealing with other productions, internships and graduate school auditions," Berk said.
Another first for Frick's students is the age of their audience.
"Children are the most honest audience," Frick said. "If you're lousy, they'll let you know."
Geigel said the class is keeping Frick's words in mind as they plan their plays.
Children "have no tact sensor," Geigel said.
Fourth-year College student Tom Stephansky said he is struggling with conveying the comedy of his group's play to a younger audience.
"We're trying to figure out how to make it funny for children," Stephansky said. "We're college students, so we think we're all hip and cool, but that might not fly with second graders."
Because only a few students in the class have worked with children before, Geigel said there has been a lot of research conducted on children's theater.
"We're basically flying by the seat of our pants," Geigel said. "The main thing we're taught is that theater is play, especially with children."
Frick also pointed out that his seminar can be viewed as a community service on top of a class.
"This is obviously an outreach project, too," Frick said. "We're exposing the elementary school students to theater as well."
The service feature of the project is an aspect Lilley said she enjoyed.
"Those are the people who are going to be us one day," Lilley said.
Geigel said she feels confident the class will have achieved Frick's goal of introducing his students to the entire theater experience by the end of the semester.
"The production gives you a real life simulation," Geigel said. "You've got to trust each other and get it done. It's not a typical 'work hard, study and get a grade' class"
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