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Printer-Friendly ModeNew theater group aims to prepare fellow majors
September 21, 2009 —
Lights, camera and action!
SVSU students said “hello” to a new theater group on campus last week.
Through Line Theatre Ensemble has a mission that focuses on developing “students’ critical eye for theatre,” as outlined by the group’s mission statement.
The Through Line Theatre Ensemble plans to expose its members to a wide variety of theater experiences. The group will provide the opportunity for students to participate in stage readings as well as introduce original scripts for members of the theater department to perform.
“Stage readings are basically informal script presentations,” said Erinn Holm, theater senior and vice president.
The group also will actively pursue opportunities to expose its members to a wide range of theater.
To accomplish this, the group plans to attend numerous theatrical productions at SVSU and outside universities, reading a variety of scripts, as well as viewing theater through the movie industry.
The formation of the Through Line Theatre Ensemble reflects two main desires of many theater students.
The first focuses on the lack of preparedness that a theater student experiences as he or she starts work on the theater department’s required senior project.
“We want more student productions taking place because the only opportunity (for student productions) is the senior project,” said senior Through Line President and theatre major Chad Bake.
The second goal of the group is to establish connections with neighboring universities in order to expose theater students to a greater range and variety of productions.
“The University of Michigan (Flint) and Central Michigan University are ideal,” said Baker.
Newly recruited members to the organization expressed their excitement about the range of theatrical disciplines that the Through Line Theatre Ensemble will examine.
“We are very much an acting department,” said Baker when discussing the opportunities to branch out into other areas of theater such as directing, stage management, lighting and sound.
Although the SVSU theater department has two already existing theater organizations, Work in Progress and Alpha Si Omega, both serve very specific functions.
The Work in Progress theater group works just with improvisation, while Alpha Si Omega simply serves as a supporting organization of the theater program.
Sarah Hurst, a theater senior and newly recruited member of Through Line, expressed her excitement to branch out of acting.
“It (Through Line Theatre Ensemble) will allow me to explore some of the other aspects of theater,” said Hurst.
During the summer, members of the group volunteered at a Fine Arts Day Camp for local students from grades four through nine.
The members worked with staff to host workshops on different aspects of theater. The group received a donation for their service volunteering in the community.
The Through Line Theatre Ensemble expressed its desire to continue its volunteer and community work by getting more involved on campus by establishing connections with similar organizations.
The future looks promising for the new organization which will have its second meeting Tuesday and auditions for its current script production, Speech and Debate on Oct. 1.
“I’m excited to get involved with theater stuff right away,” said theater freshman and new recruit Cameron Thorp.