Students preview upcoming season
Despite the renovations and construction at the Fine Arts Center (FAC), the University of Rhode Island’s theatre department is excited to present its upcoming season of shows.
This year’s schedule consists of Naiomi Iizuka’s “Polaroid Stories” in October, “Or” by Liz Duffy Adams in December, “By the Way, Meet Vera Stark” by Lynn Nottage in late February and Steven Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods” in March.
According to David Howard, chair of the theatre department and professor of costume design, the process for deciding on shows for any given season can take months and involves a committee of full-time faculty, staff, and two student representatives.
“As the semester goes along, We’re all reading these plays, and we’re all navigating how we envision these plays working together,” Howard said. “We’ve had many seasons where we were very excited about a series of plays, and then you put them all down and you’re like, ‘oh, look, a barren wasteland. Oh, look, another play that’s about a barren wasteland. Oh look, a third.’ We have to think about variety for our audience.”
Howard explained that the community at large submits potential titles, with the committee shortening the list until their goals for the season are fulfilled with their shortlist. Each year, the department likes to perform a musical, a contemporary drama and a historical piece. Once these shortlists are developed, the committee votes upon them, with the student representatives counting for a single vote.
“Interestingly enough, almost every season, the show that the students want is the show that we end up going for,” Howard said. “So we know we have a lot of students’ support in that process.”
This season is not entirely normal for the department, however, with the FAC undergoing renovations. The shows and season have been designed with these renovations in mind, according to Howard.
During a normal season, both the J Theatre and Will Theatre are used for productions throughout the year, with the G Theatre being used as a classroom. This year, the J Theatre is taking the role normally given to the G Theatre, leaving all productions this year in the Will Theatre.
The program will also temporarily use an alternate lobby and restrooms in the FAC. Despite these changes, Howard believes that the URI theatre experience will remain just as exciting and engaging as ever.
“Anyone attending a production shouldn’t have any different experience once they walk into those doors,” he said.
Enthusiasm around the department has been growing for the upcoming season as well. Students in the program are quite eager about the show selection
Rose Bohac, a sophomore theatre major, said that their mainstage production, “Into the Woods,” is one of her all-time favorite shows.
“I’m really excited to see how we use proscenium theatre for all the shows because of construction. The student run show is a mainstage show so I’m excited to see how that turns out,” she said.
The October production of “Polaroid Stories” has already been cast, raising even more excitement for many on campus.
“I’m a little bit nervous, but I’m confident we’ll have a good season. I’m very excited for ‘Polaroid Stories’,” said Chris Scarpa, a sophomore involved with the production.
As for the season as a whole, Howard said that he is optimistic.
“We are still going to be offering the same exact production quality and the same exact commitment to our students, to the university, even to South County,” Howard said.
The main goal of these four productions is to create an environment for all students to entertain, observe or make their mark, according to Howard. He anticipates gaining attention from groups beyond the department as well.
“The most important thing about our four show season is truly offering an opportunity for somebody who has never visited our theatre to see the breadth of what the art form can be,” Howard said.
Even despite construction in the FAC, the department expects the same high quality experience for their audiences as any other season.