If you’ve never been to Broadway, don’t fear. With senior theatre majors producing, directing and casting their own productions, Denver has its very own talented cast.
Each senior theatre major is in charge of producing a one-act play for their Senior Thesis for the Spring Capstone Festival, “Lucky 13,” which is held during three different weekends throughout spring quarter.
The 13 shows are divided into three cycles. Cycle I shows were held April 11-13. Cycle II shows will be held May 2-4 and Cycle III shows will be held May 23-25. All shows are held in the Byron Theatre in the Newman Center.
According to Department of Theatre Chair Rick Barbour, each senior is responsible for all aspects of the creation and production of the show including the budget, choosing actors, rehearsal and the design process.
“Since our major, BA in Theatre, requires classes in all areas of the theatre process (acting directing, design, critical assessment, movement, voice, history, writing and management), the senior capstone process is the culminating opportunity to demonstrate skills, competence and excellence in theatre-making,” said Barbour.
Senior theatre major from Denver, Kaitlin Clark, is directing a scene from “Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen” by Tennessee Williams, which will be showcased during the Cycle II plays.
“One thing that everyone always asks me is if this is easier than writing a 100-page thesis paper and at first I thought it would be so much easier—but—actually I would say it is so much more fun than writing a 100-page thesis—but I think it is a lot harder,” said Clark.
Choosing a play takes a lot of time and effort, according to Clark. After Associate Professor Allison Horsley gave her “Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen” to read over, Clark felt an instant connection and knew this would be her future capstone production.
“I knew I wanted to do something pertinent to my life and that [play] moved me,” said Clark.
Clark’s production is the smallest out of the shows with only two actors. It looks at the relationship between a couple living in a small apartment in the Lower East Side of New York in the 1950s.
“My goal is to show that they are in this tight space and that there is an intimacy between them that has been there for a long time but it’s mostly lost but there is still something,” said Clark.
All students take a junior seminar for the entire year to prepare for their capstones and by the end of spring quarter, students have decided on their play, according to Clark. Production plans were submitted to the theatre department faculty in the middle of fall quarter for review and from there, the date of the cycles were determined based on the length of shows and the themes.
Tickets for the productions are $10 and students get in free with their Pioneer Card. Money from the ticket sales goes back to the theatre department to allocate for next year’s capstones.
The directors are each given a budget of $500 from the Theatre Department for their costume, lighting, scene and sound designers.
From there, the students hold auditions, callbacks and castings for actors throughout the Denver area, which they open up to a pool of applicants outside of DU.
The seniors use other theatre major students to help with their productions so they can get experience.
“It’s all kind of a big community that helps everyone out,” said Clark.
Play rehearsals for each play are Monday-Friday from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and each group has production meetings once a week for two hours. According to Clark, she has tried to make her production as personal as possible.
“One thing that has been really important for me during the entire process was to create a personal aspect for everyone involved, even starting with my production team,” said Clark. “I have everyone bring in something personal: a collage that someone did or a story that someone doesn’t know about you that you can tie into the play and I know that that is very rare but it was very important to me because I picked this show because of my personal feelings.”
Each senior has to pick at least one faculty advisor who comes to production meetings and sometimes rehearsals, as well as choose four professors that will go to the production and grade their final work, according to Clark.
“This has been an ongoing process for such a long time; and so I really think that it’s kind of the climax of your theatre degree because everything that you have learned from day one you somehow remember and put into this production,” said Clark.
The Cycle I plays were “The Proposal,” directed by Greg Ungar, “Victoria Station,” directed by Kelly Cossette, “When Wendy Grew Up,” directed by Austen Hughes and “The Inheritance,” directed by Sara Seymour.
The Cycle II plays are “Kiss of Blood”, directed by Alex Ambard, “Time Flies,” directed by Chris van der Walt, “Frankenstein,” directed by Lauren Freeman and “Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen,” directed by Kaitlin Clark.
The Cycle III shows are “Trial by Jury,” directed by Elliot Clough, “Lynette at 3am,” directed by Khumbo Mhone, “The Fourth Mrs. Phillips,” directed by Maggie Patterson, “The Unwanted,” directed by Jo Simonds and “Oh! The Humanity,” directed by Julia Owen.
