Week Five Question

Since it is opening night, what do feel most nervous about tonight? What do you feel could have been done to relieve this stress? What advice would you give someone looking to take this class in the future?

Week Four Question

Given that each person has a specific and different position; name one or two things you have learned from working in your specific area. What advice would you give to a person looking to do your job for a future show?

Week 3 Question

Alright, time for a different sort of question. In regards to the script, what do you feel is the message that it gives? Is it a message worth hearing? What kinds of people may benefit most from seeing this show?

Week Two Question

What do you as a person feel are the strengths of the company after three weeks of class? What do you feel are some of the weaknesses. Explain possible ways in which the weaknesses might be handled.

Question for Week One

As mentioned in the course description we are taking part in the "maiden voyage" of this course. What is your reaction to this? What do you expect to gain from this course? To what extent do you feel this course can help you prepare for a potential job once you graduate/ if you are not going into a theater based work, what skills do you hope to take from this course which will aid you in your particular field of study?

Theater Repertory Course Summary

Purpose

"Collaboration is the biggest word in the theatre. It is the most important element in theatrical success. The theatre is a welding of many arts into one. No one person can be efficient or talented in all of these arts and if any man could write and produce and direct and act and play the music, shift the scenery, design the costumes and, in short, do everything that could be done on one stage and come up with what was literally a one man show, he would still need one more thing: an audience. You cannot get away from collaboration."

-Oscar Hammerstein II

The Theater Repertory course offered here at Monmouth College presents this idea of collaboration as the focal point of its course design. Now, it is true that the course is designed to inspire creativity and put it's students in a similar situation to that of an actual repertory company, but the underlying purpose, which can be found throughout this course, is this goal of a group of students unifying to put up a show in practically every aspect; in short: collaboration.

Through this collaboration the students in the course each take a role, as if it were a professional repertory company, and are assigned to work in this specific role with the rest of the company to put up a professional looking show. The roles include:

• Director
• Stage Manager
• Set Designer
• Lighting Designer
• Sound Designer
• Prop Designer
• Publicity Liaison
• Hair and Makeup Designer
• Dramaturgy

In addition to this list there are multiple other chances for students to get involved if not chosen for one of these roles. These include assistant roles for most positions, and usually consist of shadowing the "lead" student and assisting/learning from them as the show comes together.

Current Cast

Director- Kaytlyn Drost

Stage Manager- Stacy Fields

Set Designer- Kenneth Yeater

Lighting Designer- Jennifer Erbes

Sound Designer- Heather Hall

Prop Designer- Krissy Heinzman

Publicity Liaison- Tynan Sinks

Hair and Makeup Designer- Nicholas Munson

Dramaturgy- Dane Feenstra

Other

Assistant Director- Nicolas Munson

Assistant Stage Manager- Brittany Van Etten

Assistant Set Designer- Jamie Kistler

Assistant Lighting Designer- Nicholas Munson

Assistant Prop Designer- Alex Nall

Assistant Publicity Liaison- Jonathon Snowdon

Assistant Hair and Makeup Designer- Brittany Van Etten

Assistant Dramaturgy- Jennifer Erbes

The former is the list of the current students enrolled in the Fall 2009 production of "Fat Men in Skirts," a show detailing the journey of Bishop Hogan, his mother: Phyllis Hogan, his father: Howard Hogan, and Howard's mistress Pam, as they experience a dark reality which includes multiple cultural taboos.

The hope of this production is to "cause the audience to question values and ideals, if we are speaking from the stand point of what we want to the audience to take away from the show. Speaking as a cast, we hope to show the skills we have effectively and professionally, these are the hopes we have for this production." This quote from director Kaytlyn Drost embodies what our goal as a class is, and refrains it from earlier, which is collaboration.

As the maiden voyage of this course departs we as a class are filled with elation at the opportunity to show our ability, and to better ourselves in the theater program here at Monmouth College. It is our hope that this course will pay dividends for years to come, and that each of us takes something unique and valuable from this life changing opportunity.