DU Backstage (DUB) is a new club on campus that wants to embrace the theater community and all of its talents, on and off stage. The first meeting took place on Wednesday, April 5. However, the club is still accepting members.
“We are a club that is primarily focused on building a sense of community within the [theater] department, ensuring student representation within the faculty and fostering a space for creativity to flourish,” said second-year theater and political science major, Aspen McCart, who is one of the DUB officers.
In previous years, the DU Drama Ensemble (DUDE) put on several productions and independent plays during its time on campus, hosting similar meetings, auditions, workshops, and read-throughs. The club lost its traction due to COVID-19 because, as many would suspect, theater is nearly impossible to do over Zoom. The officers of DUB wanted to “bring it back in a new, revamped way to bring the department back together,” said McCart.
The DUB officers “are making conscious efforts to unite a department that has been struggling post-Covid,” according to McCart. “We have been building ourselves up to be as strong as we used to be, but we want to make that final push of unity to really make us whole again.”
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join the club, even without a background in theater. Involvement is key to bringing clubs to life on campus, which is why DUB is looking for members from all backgrounds.
DUB has several events coming up this quarter. The fall quarter production (TBD) will be directed by professional actor and DU professor, Greg Ungar. They will be holding workshops to prepare for auditions during week 5, a staged readthrough on April 28 and more.
“All we need from the DU community is for y’all to get involved,” encouraged McCart. The first step, she said, would be to follow the DUB on Instagram in order to keep up with important dates, events, etc.
Second-year theater and psychology major Kate Hebert was one of the three people who wanted to bring this club back to life, after hearing amazing stories about DUDE. “The theater department is such a special group of people,” she said.
With DUB, students have the opportunity to connect with one another outside of structured rehearsals and shows. During the monthly meetings located in Johnson-McFarlane, DUB plans to “go over events and new ideas for the department,” according to Hebert. Hebert heard many stories about DUDE from upperclassmen and wanted to be a part of recreating that vision.
For those more inclined to watch DUB’s productions than be a part of their creation, keep your eye out for the production of “The Tempest” by Shakespeare next winter as well as another production (to be announced) directed by a guest director. If next year is too long of a wait, plan to attend or participate in Miscast, “which is a night where anyone can perform a song, scene or anything they want that they would not usually play,” according to Hebert.
Theater kid at heart (or not), DUB welcomes any and all students to play a part in this new club at DU.
