Student Blogger: Audrey Myers

In order to graduate from Samford University as a theatre student, one must complete a final thesis called a “Catalyst project.” This year, two senior Theatre for Youth majors, Anna Johnson and Chloe Tower, teamed up to reach students on the other side of the world through their collaborative senior project.

Picture me, an eager college freshman, certain that I could save the world through theatre, but a bit overwhelmed with where to start. I had grandeur dreams of opening my own nonprofit children’s theatre and working with underprivileged youth of some sort.

After watching Soul, I was able to reflect on my relationship with theatre as a career and reevaluate what is most important. 

The holiday season is full of family, friends, and fun. However, this year our gatherings might possibly be happening over Zoom.

Every year, Samford University's beginning directing and stage management classes put on a 10-minute play festival.

Three Samford University theatre students were integral parts of The Fantasticks at Virginia Samford Theatre, one of Brimingham’s regional theatres.

What happens when plans are derailed? One must adapt and grow.

Ephemeral. Innovative. Transportive. These are just a few words that have been used to describe Samford Theatre Underground’s Travel Theatre

Sometime back in May, I found myself in a time of grieving for the loss of opportunities. With each week that passed, it seemed that the likelihood of things a?oereturning to normala?? for the fall semester was slim.

Samford University has been in school approximately three weeks, and the theatre department is already in full swing with a variety of socially distanced, live-theatre events.

Over the past two years, Ia??ve devoured hundreds of plays. I wholeheartedly believe that reading plays has made me a better theatre-maker and person. 

Little did I know, that instead of returning to my beloved Alliance building to work, summer camps would be online this year. 

As students prepare for next semester, bountiful questions remain. Will everyone actually return to campus? How can theatre-makers create art while staying safe? Is it worth going back to school, only to return home in a few weeks?

When one thinks of jobs on Broadway, the first career that often comes to mind is actor, or maybe director or designer. However, each and every Broadway show has about 200 to 400 people working on it at any given time.

Thanks to Broadway World, I was given the opportunity to attend this impressive online festival and participate in some of the over fifty workshops that the festival had to offer. 

As artists, we are in charge of our own career destinies and as such, sometimes one has to pound the pavement in order to advance in the industry. Any good business person uses the cold call to his or her advantage.

Most of us were expecting this gift of time to be mere weeks, and now the summer plans we've spent all quarantine dreaming about may not be happening. As summer jobs and artistic work are at best being revised and at worst cancelled, we find ourselves yet again pondering what to do with all this time.

A few weeks ago, my professor Chelsea Nicholson told me to, a?oeTake advantage of this gift of time that we have right now. Do something creative.a?? These words inspired me to reach out to a few alumni.

Theatre as an art is inherently collaborative. It takes a team. What happens when we are separated from our ensemble? How can we continue to create in isolation? Most of the time the creativity in our craft is assigned. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't negate our art by any means, but as theatre makers, we are usually creating in the context of a larger project. We often have little control over the big picture: such as being cast as a role in a musical or asked to design the set for a specific play. 

Frustrated, restless, anxious. Do these feelings sound familiar? The times that I should be up in front of the class performing or directing children in a TYA scene, I am now spending staring at my computer screen. I want to be doing things, not simply discussing doing things. I find myself grieving: Grieving the missed opportunities, grieving my lack of control, grieving the loss of my immediate and intimate community at Samford University.