Virginia Jansen
At the end of their senior year, four lucky theater students have the opportunity to direct their own show in a program called Project 66. Project 66 is a student-run theater event presented for the past six years that consists of four one act shows.
Jeremy Stoll, the director of the theater department, is in charge of picking the four directors for the shows. After an application and interview process, Stoll said he had to decide which directors and show ideas would work best.
“We looked for variety within a show [and] variety within the director’s vision, style and mode of working,” Stoll said. “Also, cast size is important … We need to be able to provide opportunities for a number of students.”
Stoll ended up deciding on four directors: seniors Abby Cameron, Shannon Chinn, Grace Johanningsmeier and Anastasiya Petrosyan.
Cameron is directing a show called “Self-Reliance,” based around the essay of the same name by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“[Self-Reliance’] is very movement-oriented because I find it beautiful when there is expression without word,” Cameron said. “So in my show, often times an emotion may be conveyed through movement rather than words.”
Chinn chose a show called “The Glass Menagerie” to direct. She said that she chose this play because she fell in love with it after seeing it in person.
“I saw it on Broadway when I went to New York and I became obsessed with it and it was my favorite play,” Chinn said. “The meaning and everything spoke to me.”
Johanningsmeier is picked “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad” as her show. She said that she didn’t discover it on purpose, but ended up liking it.
“I actually kind of chose it by accident,” Johanningsmeier said. “This summer, I found a copy of it in a store and I just really like it. I think I really like absurdism and this play … is a little bit absurd. It explores deeper issues without doing it in an obvious way.”
Petrosyan is directing a show called “The Absolute Most Clichéd Elevator Play in the History of the Entire Universe.” She said she chose this play because it is a comedy.
Each of the directors have different experiences that help them direct. Johanningsmeier said that her acting experience caused her to change the way rehearsals were scheduled.
“I think [my experience acting] helps considerably because … I know what works for me and I think I know what works for a lot of actors,” Johanningsmeier said. “So, going into this, I changed the schedule around. I split my show up into parts and we’re working one part at a time, so it feels more like the finished product.”
Chinn also has experience acting, but in addition to that, she took on a leadership role for the musical this year, which was “Dogfight.” She said this experience was different from directing her own show in many ways.
“‘Dogfight’ was really fun, but I didn’t actually do a lot of directing the actors,” Chinn said. “I was helping Stoll out with a lot of behind-the-scenes and planning rehearsals … a lot of the production side. It was more helping things run smoothly than actually putting my ideas onto the stage.”
Each director has taken something different away from their experience directing. Petrosyan said she is mainly excited for people to see her hard work.
“I’m just really excited to share it with everybody and for my actors to feel the energy from the audience, because that’s going to add a lot of humor and give them more excitement,” Petrosyan said. “I’m excited for people to see it and for people to laugh and have a good time.”
Chinn said doing this activity has really changed what she wants to do with her life.
“I think my biggest takeaway is … how much I enjoy directing,” Chinn said. “I’ve always known I wanted to do theater in the future, as a career, but I thought it would be acting. I’ve really enjoyed directing and I think it might be something I want to pursue as a career.”
Johanningsmeier said she is not sure what she will come of this experience until the shows actually happen.
“I really don’t know [what I will take away] at this point,” Johanningsmeier said. “I went into it knowing I’d have to adapt because nothing ever goes quite as planned. I really think, ‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’ Anything could, and I’m just going to be prepared for it and see where it takes me.”
Cameron said she will change more about how she acts as a whole rather than just for theater.
“My biggest take away is learning when to give or take,” Cameron said. “I’ve always been a people pleaser and [want] to incorporate other people’s ideas. In this directing experience, I have learned when to step up and be completely confident and sure of my ideas.”
Project 66 is an opportunity for students to take a larger leadership role in the theater process. Stoll said despite doing some supervising and directing, the best part is seeing the directors not needing his help.
“One of the most gratifying things is to see the students not need me to take control,” Stoll said. “It just shows that they’ve had an adequate training here within our program. They’ve had the opportunities they need to really own the production process.”
