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Feature “It’s about giving our students responsibilities, then using give and take to produce good work, an opportunity theatre uniquely lends.” —Heather Williams Student actors backstage during a rehearsal of Kiss Me Kate at the Summer Repertory Theatre at Santa Rosa Junior College. McClurkin, University of Findlay adjunct professor of theatre. “We have a wonderful array of guest artists who work with students and teach master classes, like Hal Holbrook, Bryan Bedford and Dixie Carter. Our students not only work closely with these great artists, they all get the attention they need in theatre education, tech design and musical theatre.” Communicating With Administration Another essential element of any strong summer program is keeping your school informed on a consistent basis. You must be completely open about the work you do, respect your administrators’ reasonable opinions and restrictions, and involve your school in necessary decision-making. Do this, and you will have created a platform for give-and take, and will have your concerns and requests taken seriously. Equally important is to maintain excellent communication with the administrators/artistic director of the theatre company your school/program is associated with. Santa Rosa Junior College, in Santa Rosa, Calif., operates in tandem with the Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre to offer an intensive 11-week course, combining professional training with production and field study. A close and mutually supportive connection between college and company plays a huge role in the company’s success, meshing education with future career opportunity. “Students at SRT work with 35 professional artists from every aspect of the theatre,” says SRT Artistic Director James Newman. “By working with these professionals, students are gaining connections that will help them get jobs in the future. This experience gives students the tools and techniques to forge their own way in the world of theatre, while at the same time, learning specific skills that further their goals.” Serving Your Students’ Needs Your most important task within any summer program, or any theatre program period, is to help your students achieve personal objectives—especially important if your students are focused on interpreting difficult roles, and you also have full company/ faculty members you need to cast. “I think it’s fair to say that in most programs melding both professional artists and students, in most instances, one group or the other is the weak stepsister,” says Sanford Robbins, director of the professional theatre training program and chairperson of the department of theatre at the University of Delaware. “More often than not, students get relegated to the background, especially in terms of casting. If the professional company members’ need for large roles dominates, then training is no longer the priority. It’s arguable that these students can learn simply from being around professional actors, but our governing principal, the rule we are unwilling to violate under any circumstances, is to provide our students with the most effective training strategy.” Robbins’ unique solution has been to cast his Equity actors in leads during the mainstage season; but in student productions, these pros play minor roles, giving their young apprentices the principal parts. “We see such a dramatic impact in the velocity of our students’ development as a result of this approach,” Robbins reports. An especially effective educational tactic can also be to stage a play that will also be studied for text analysis and/or scenework. “Members of our professional company each teach an undergraduate course, which provides a greater level of quality for the students they work with,” Robbins adds. “A wonderful bonus to that is the degree to which our professional company 14 June 2010 • www.stage-directions.com
William Browning members become connected to their students, and their students relate so closely to these artists.” Ultimately, a good summer theatre program keeps continually moving forward. “It’s important to keep improving on the way you give students information—how do you get them to the next step?” stresses Deall. “Most of all, what you really want is to give students a core set of working values.” Mark Corkins and Andrew Goldwasser in As You Like It at the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program www.stage-directions.com • June 2010 15
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