Theatre Arts College Tour
Donation protected
In October 2015, we (four senior theatre majors at the University of Minnesota) began creating a full-length performance about our experience studying theatre in college. What began as angst-ridden grumblings about the state of arts education and the stakes of shaping young minds, evolved into Theatre Arts, a performance exploring the aesthetics of student-made theatre, the limits of creativity within institutional structures, and the role of the student in pursuing radicality. Now, two years later, we're touring a new version of Theatre Arts to college theatre groups around the country.
In February and March 2018, we'll be taking Theatre Arts to four different colleges around the country: University of Minnesota - Duluth, North Carolina State University, Florida State University, and St. Olaf College. We'll spend around 5 days at each school, where we'll teach workshops, meet with students, and incorporate students and faculty into the performance itself. We'll also be visiting four other colleges where we'll be teaching our one-day workshop.
At most of the schools we're visiting, we're being produced by student-run theatre groups rather than receiving official departmental support. Students want to bring our show to their campuses. This DIY ethos aligns well with the spirit of our show. We've bonded with many of these student groups over a shared desire to question the histories, canons, and methodologies that we've been taught about theatre, and the ways these teachings creep into what we value, see, and recreate.
Naturally, the student groups we're in contact with don't have many resources. Some of them don't have spaces where they can rehearse or perform. They're bending over backwards for us, jumping through bureaucratic hoops, and housing us in their apartments. They're providing so much for us, and with such enthusiasm, but they're unable to support this tour monetarily. Which is why we're turning to you.
We are receiving some funding from a couple of the schools we'll be travelling to, but this supports us for only a quarter of the tour. In order to pull off the rest of this month-long tour, we need to raise $4,000 to pay for gas, food, production expenses (set, costumes, props, documentation), and paying our super duper dramaturg who has been helping us revise and reimagine the show, Skewed Vision's Charles Campbell . These are the barebones expenses to tour a full-length show with three performers across the country to eight different schools. And we'd be so thankful for your support.
Supporting this tour empowers emerging performance-makers who are interested in creating theatre that isn't funneled through bureaucratic or corporate filters. It's supporting experimental but accessible work that encourages young people to question, critique, and repurpose the subtle and insidious ways their bodies are trained to see and be seen. It's also weird and fun and a blast to perform. We want to share Theatre Arts with people who care about the ideas we're grappling with, and who are interested in digging deeper into what theatre can be and do.
In February and March 2018, we'll be taking Theatre Arts to four different colleges around the country: University of Minnesota - Duluth, North Carolina State University, Florida State University, and St. Olaf College. We'll spend around 5 days at each school, where we'll teach workshops, meet with students, and incorporate students and faculty into the performance itself. We'll also be visiting four other colleges where we'll be teaching our one-day workshop.
At most of the schools we're visiting, we're being produced by student-run theatre groups rather than receiving official departmental support. Students want to bring our show to their campuses. This DIY ethos aligns well with the spirit of our show. We've bonded with many of these student groups over a shared desire to question the histories, canons, and methodologies that we've been taught about theatre, and the ways these teachings creep into what we value, see, and recreate.
Naturally, the student groups we're in contact with don't have many resources. Some of them don't have spaces where they can rehearse or perform. They're bending over backwards for us, jumping through bureaucratic hoops, and housing us in their apartments. They're providing so much for us, and with such enthusiasm, but they're unable to support this tour monetarily. Which is why we're turning to you.
We are receiving some funding from a couple of the schools we'll be travelling to, but this supports us for only a quarter of the tour. In order to pull off the rest of this month-long tour, we need to raise $4,000 to pay for gas, food, production expenses (set, costumes, props, documentation), and paying our super duper dramaturg who has been helping us revise and reimagine the show, Skewed Vision's Charles Campbell . These are the barebones expenses to tour a full-length show with three performers across the country to eight different schools. And we'd be so thankful for your support.
Supporting this tour empowers emerging performance-makers who are interested in creating theatre that isn't funneled through bureaucratic or corporate filters. It's supporting experimental but accessible work that encourages young people to question, critique, and repurpose the subtle and insidious ways their bodies are trained to see and be seen. It's also weird and fun and a blast to perform. We want to share Theatre Arts with people who care about the ideas we're grappling with, and who are interested in digging deeper into what theatre can be and do.
Organizer
Eric Larson
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
