Theatre Festival “opening ceremony”

With storms rolling through the Metro Jackson area, we’ve decided to move our ‘opening ceremony’ to the world wide web.  The storms will have passed through in time for the rest of the evening’s festival events to continue as scheduled.

Opening Address:

On behalf of the faculty, staff and students of the Theatre department, I would like to share a few thoughts on the Belhaven Theatre Festival, which officially begins this evening and continues through Saturday, April 16.  While this is our inaugural festival, it is our sincere hope to make this an annual event.

The idea of the festival grew out of our desire as a department to create as many opportunities as possible for students to showcase their talents, their interests, and their gifts, particularly when it comes to the creation of new theatre.  We are excited about the slate of events this year, including the visits of our guest artists Rich Swingle and C. McNair Wilson.

The word ‘festival’ is derived from the word ‘feast’, which was used to describe not only a celebratory meal (often during times of plentiful supply), but also in connection to a religious ceremony or celebration.

The Greek word ‘theatron’, which is the basis for our word ‘theatre’, literally translates as “a seeing place.”  The word contains the implication that the theatre is a place to perceive, to visit, the action that takes place there; action which often includes the presence of the divine.

It is our hope that the Belhaven Theatre Festival will be that place where we may come into contact with, and enable ourselves to perceive, the divine.  That it will be a time of plenty, and that it will be a time of celebration.  A celebration of our community.

Our prayer for the Festival:

God

Our Father

And Creator

We give you praise

We thank you for your gifts to us

We thank you for the opportunity to offer them back

We offer you this Festival

An offering of our time, our talents, our energies, our focus

May it be a blessing to you

May it be a blessing to the audiences you bring

May you speak your Truth through us

May you guide our work

May you keep us safe

May your presence be with us

And bless us

We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ

Amen

Better Prepared the Second Time Around

This was the second year I was able to attend SETC and participate in the Professional Auditions. Because I can’t do anything easily, I also decided to indulge my masochistic side and participate in the Graduate School auditions in lieu of my upcoming graduation from Belhaven. Thankfully, I was scheduled to do my Professional Audition the day before the Grad Auditions (how some people did them both on the same day, I don’t know). All in all, this year was vastly different from last year. Because I was able to participate in the professional auditions the year before, I knew what was to be expected and was therefore able to prepare a little bit better (knowing to project more, picking a better audition piece, mentally preparing for any callbacks etc.) I was, however, surprised by the difference between the professional auditions and the grad school auditions. The grad auditions were set in a lot smaller setting, a little bit more relaxed–overall not as “intense” as the professional auditions, you were allowed two and a half minutes to perform two pieces (a classical and contemporary), the stage was smaller, and there were definitely fewer auditioners and auditionees. After all the auditioning was done, I had been given four callbacks from the Professional Auditions, and nine from the Grad School auditions. Thanks to last year’s experience and knowing what to expect, I feel I was able to enjoy the callback/interview experience a lot more. As of now, I’ve applied for  the University of Arkansas’ MFA acting program and should hear back from them next week, as well as several internships in Sacramento, CA (with the B Street Theatre Co.) and Norfolk, VA (with the Virginia Stage Co.)