Northwestern Student Theatre

I joined the forum to comment on this.

I agree, and upon thinking about the problem, it seems at first a very difficult gap to bridge. The first issue that strikes me is that Theatre and RTVF just don't get a lot of opportunities to meet, talk and actually understand what the other does. There are very few doubles because of the SoC restrictions, and most RTVF and Theatre classes aren't open to non-majors, which means, in my experience, one just doesn't meet enough of the other major.

There's also the non-trivial fact that theatre and film require different skill sets, and the acting, lighting and set for one does not always translate to the other--it requires a kind of implicit understanding about the nuanced differences between the two forms that is never really explicated. Although I would love to see more tech people coming from RTVF to theatre and more actors trying RTVF.

From inside the theatre major, it feels like doing film doesn't have the same social capital as being in a show does, even though getting footage for your reel is probably more career-beneficial. There's a lot of pressure to be doing Theatre And Only Theatre, because nothing else is really visible in the community, which is a shame.

I guess, as lovely as this sounds, these are just the issues that need to be resolved, not to mention the colossal effort it would take to get such a massive dialogue and awareness going between the two majors.

Is there a StuCo equivalent in RTVF? A group that sort of unites and mediates most/some of the student work that gets produced?

Hey guys!
Let's try to talk about ways to move forward without calling out shows. I say this simply to keep the conversation positive and productive rather than critical in an unkind way. Totally hear what you're saying, though, and this feedback is really helpful!

It's a little detached now but I'd think to bring it up before it comes back in the fall- what is the deal with Waa-2?

It was frustrating as a freshman because, only a week into our first quarter, it seemed to create a new upper class of freshman performers. Long before musical theatre certificate program auditions are on the radar, there's already a faction of MT kids. It seems like a really bad idea to divide the freshman class as soon as they arrive.

Does anyone have any insight?

Quick question on the topic of trigger warnings: does anyone have an example of an element of a StuCo (or TI) show in recent years that should have warranted a trigger warning?

God of Carnage had vomiting but I think there was a warning for that? Bug, I think, had some content warnings.

Would a piece like Next to Normal require trigger warnings for topics of depression and attempted suicide? That's the only piece I can think of where someone might go into the theatre expecting something less intense than advertised. With Marat/Sade, on the other hand, I think one should have probably expected some freaky **** and some yelling just based on the posters and (amazing) promo video.

I have a few unrelated thoughts on this topic.

1. I think Stuco needs to self-impose/police a tech week curfew. There's absolutely no reason why somebody needs to spend all night working in Shanley/Louis. We need to stigmatize staying up all night to make a show happen. It doesn't need to be that way. Another version of this is no freshman past a certain hour. My basic point is getting no sleep during a tech week should not be/is not a badge of honor, and I think a culture of taking care of oneself and prioritizing health needs to come from the upperclassmen. 

2. FBRs need to go. I am not on a board, but I would argue that they serve no function that could not be achieved by others. I understand the sense of "tradition" that this would eliminate, but I think that Stuco would be a far less scary place to a lot of freshmen if we did not denote a group of "cool kids" their first quarter here. Which leads to my next point...

3. StuCo's general social media presence is pretty focused on individual people and the "things" that they get. This needs to end. We create a culture of have and have nots, and make people sitting at their computer who didn't get the thing feel worthless.