About Joseph Frost

Associate Professor of Theatre. Head of BA emphasis programs in Dramatic Writing and Theatre Ministry. MFA in Script and Screen Writing, MA in Theatre Acting/Directing from Regent University. Married to Shannon, five children (Nina, Darby, Emory, Beau, Violet)

Don Quixote update

As we continue to workshop our devised production of Don Quixote, we’ll post some photos from time to time.  Here’s a couple from the first week of October – our process is to break the story down into shorter parts (sometimes a couple of the 125 chapters at a time) and do a quick “bad first draft”, staging it in just a few minutes.  We video the draft, then watch it back and make decisions about what we could do better, or differently, or more interestingly, then get back up, re-stage it, film it and watch it again.  After multiple passes, we end up with a stronger (yet still rough) draft of the scene.  Over the next month, we’ll take these rough scenes and work through them until we put them down in script form, to tighten the action and clean up the dialogue.

Theo and Adrian doing a rough draft of a scene from Don Quixote for the camera (while Mac and Lydia hide)

In a working rehearsal of the devised production of Don Quixote, we never know what we’ll create

Playing with lighting effects and shadows during a working rehearsal for Don Quixote

Stage Combat guest artist Lauren Gunn

Lauren Gunn instructing unarmed stage combat in Seminar, September 2017

Lauren Gunn executes a non-contact stage slap on BFA Musical Theatre major Christy Robeson.

For a Friday Seminar session a few weeks ago, we were treated to a stage combat workshop by MFA candidate Lauren Gunn – who previously served our department as administrative assistant a few years ago.  She is working on her graduate degree in acting at the University of Southern Mississippi, and brought some of her training in unarmed stage combat back to share with our students.  A lot was learned in a short time, but we are looking forward to the opportunity to have Ms. Gunn return for further instruction in the future!

The Glass Menagerie

Belhaven University Theatre Department will present Tennessee Williams’ timeless memory play The Glass Menagerie September 27-30 in Barber Auditorium in the Library building on Belhaven’s main campus.  An extremely complex and emotional play such as this is always a challenge to present, but our brave cast and crew are tackling the play in an intense rehearsal process, where the cast was set only 4 weeks ago.

Our cast is made up of 4 BFA performers – Grace Reeves (junior, Acting) as Amanda, Noelle Balzer (sophomore, Acting) as Laura, Christopher Miller (freshman, Acting) as Tom, and Caleb Henry (sophomore, Musical Theatre) as Jim.

Barber Auditorium is a highly intimate space, which can bring out the best in performance, but presents special challenges for the design team and our director, Dr. Elissa Sartwell.  We are excited about the dramatic potential of presenting a play with such personal power in a space with such immediacy.

Join us next week for The Glass Menagerie!
To reserve seats, contact boxoffice@belhaven.edu or call 601-965-7026.

early rehearsal for Don Quixote

One of our productions for this semester is a devised theatre work based on the novel Don Quixote – which will be in production in November.  Devised theatre is a process of creating a play as an ensemble, and the early part of rehearsing is largely about learning to create together, and establishing an environment where we all feel comfortable sharing ideas and allowing each other to respond and expand those ideas.

Here’s a couple of quick photos of our first rehearsal this week – learning Viewpoints and getting to play with some props and lighting effects.  

Department Headshots

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This year, as a department, we are taking headshots so our students’ photos for our productions this season have a consistent look to them. For some of our students this is the first time doing headshots this way, so it can certainly be a learning experience.
Hopefully we can share some of the finished product with you as you see this season’s productions!

Thanks to our friend David Sprayberry for taking our photos this year!

A New Start

As Belhaven University begins another academic year, and we begin the process of a new season of productions, a new semester of classes and activities, we thought we’d take a chance on giving a new start to our theatre department blog.  Look for information about Belhaven University productions, classes, student projects and showcases, faculty activities, and other information that we hope you will find informative and valuable as you consider the connection between Christian faith, the arts, theatre, and our world.

Stay tuned.

2014 One Acts Submission

The deadline for submissions for the 2014 One Acts Submission is Monday, Sept 1, 2014!  More information can be found at the tab on the header of this blog, which is the page http://blogs.belhaven.edu/theatre/one-act-play-2014

Plays will be selected for production by students in the fall Directing class, and will be produced in November 2014.

Last Train to Nibroc – announcements

Tuesday night, April 1 is the opening night for the Arlene Hutton play “Last Train to Nibroc” at Belhaven Theatre (no foolin’). Break a leg to the cast and crew!

As has become the tradition in our department, after the first performance, there will be a post-Opening Night reception in the lobby.

Friday night, after the show, stick around for the first performance of Belhaven’s new comedy troupe Proverbial Improv. (Don’t worry, if you can’t make Friday, there will be a couple more shows before the end of the semester)

And on Saturday night, after the final performance, join us for a post-show discussion with our special guest, playwright Arlene Hutton!

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Antigone at Sea Change Theatre

Sea Change Theatre of Beverly, Mass. opens its production of Antigone by Sophocles tonight!

Sea Change was founded by two alumni of Belhaven Theatre Department, Jason and Staci Schaum – and Jason was an actor in Belhaven’s production of Antigone back in 2006.

If you are in the Boston area, check out this production!  Break a leg to all the cast and crew of Antigone!

Promotional still from the Sea Change Theatre production of Antigone by Sophocles

Promotional still from the Sea Change Theatre production of Antigone by Sophocles

Stage Combat class

Here’s a couple photos from this semester’s Stage Combat class.  At the end of the semester, these students will take the test to be SAFD (Society of American Fight Directors) certified as Actor Combatants.

Students in the Stage Combat class, spring of 2014

Students in the Stage Combat class, spring of 2014

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Professor Stewart Hawley instructs students in Rapier and Dagger combat during the Stage Combat class, spring of 2014