Spring Break
The Collegian Weekly: The opinion of The Collegian editorial staff
three cheers for theatre and '6 characters'
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Opinion
The Tower Players' performances of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" wrapped up over the weekend, bringing to a successful close the first full-stage production directed by a student and eliciting quite a buzz of discussion among students.
For giving senior Natalie Scarlett full reins to direct the show, we applaud the theatre department. It was a big step, and provided an excellent way to enhance the practicality of Scarlett's liberal arts degree. Student directing affords an excellent opportunity to supplement academics, balancing learning for learning's sake with training in concrete skills. Any further student-directed productions like this one we heartily welcome.
Scarlett's project achieved impressive proportions. The actors and characters confronted each other with convincing confusion on one side and impassioned anger on the other. The set was sparse but insightful. Many students have proclaimed this one of the best productions of the last few years. We admire the time and effort Scarlett expended to pull off the project and her players' effort in matching it. As the first student to direct such a large project, Scarlett set a precedent for future would-be directors, and she set the bar high.
The play provoked discussion across campus. Plays which force us to confront what we don't normally offer a broader opportunity to compare traditional thoughts with contemporary ideas in reality, rather than just the theory-world of class and papers. Choosing "Six Characters" - with its entertaining, if somewhat surreal, hour and a half of high drama, lust and suicide - challenged audiences to examine Pirandello's ideas of the meaning of language, reality and existence. The theatre department continually explores philosophies and dramatic styles which, while not inconsistent with the college's typical course offerings, are new to many of its students. Sometimes professors ask these questions in the classroom, but this show, and many others, allowed us to confront them ourselves. And that's ultimately the goal of education.
Hillsdale's theatre department impresses by choosing plays that bring in fresh ideas and stretch the campus community without breaking the relationship. Following on the heels of other thought-provoking shows like Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and C.S Lewis' "Screwtape Letters," we look forward to future productions that, through living art, make us more thoughtful.
For giving senior Natalie Scarlett full reins to direct the show, we applaud the theatre department. It was a big step, and provided an excellent way to enhance the practicality of Scarlett's liberal arts degree. Student directing affords an excellent opportunity to supplement academics, balancing learning for learning's sake with training in concrete skills. Any further student-directed productions like this one we heartily welcome.
Scarlett's project achieved impressive proportions. The actors and characters confronted each other with convincing confusion on one side and impassioned anger on the other. The set was sparse but insightful. Many students have proclaimed this one of the best productions of the last few years. We admire the time and effort Scarlett expended to pull off the project and her players' effort in matching it. As the first student to direct such a large project, Scarlett set a precedent for future would-be directors, and she set the bar high.
The play provoked discussion across campus. Plays which force us to confront what we don't normally offer a broader opportunity to compare traditional thoughts with contemporary ideas in reality, rather than just the theory-world of class and papers. Choosing "Six Characters" - with its entertaining, if somewhat surreal, hour and a half of high drama, lust and suicide - challenged audiences to examine Pirandello's ideas of the meaning of language, reality and existence. The theatre department continually explores philosophies and dramatic styles which, while not inconsistent with the college's typical course offerings, are new to many of its students. Sometimes professors ask these questions in the classroom, but this show, and many others, allowed us to confront them ourselves. And that's ultimately the goal of education.
Hillsdale's theatre department impresses by choosing plays that bring in fresh ideas and stretch the campus community without breaking the relationship. Following on the heels of other thought-provoking shows like Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and C.S Lewis' "Screwtape Letters," we look forward to future productions that, through living art, make us more thoughtful.
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