There is widespread belief that all our shows are weird, experimental, have no plot and that the faculty forces the students to do certain productions. Many complain that the department devotes too many resources to a limited number of projects, thereby reducing the potential number of campus performance opportunities. Popular opinion also suggests that our spaces often sit empty when they could be available to extracurricular groups, that the faculty discourages extracurricular theater and dance and, finally, that the theater and dance department fails to provide "real" dance opportunities. Those six assertions have been raised repeatedly without much contention.
Admittedly, a lot of the department shows look more experimental than what you might have seen in high school. But this isn't high school after all, and no one should want the theses of college seniors to look like the work of high schoolers. On the level of visual appearance, it's true that modern architecture and avant garde fashion inspire quite a few designs. But some slightly funky sets and costumes do not automatically mean reinvented, alternative or absent plots. Out of 28 main stage and/or thesis productions that we can recall from the past four years, only nine had no definite storyline. Four of those were dance concerts or choreography projects and an expectation of the same type of continuous plot or characterization as a play would be ridiculous. Ten were original scripts, but six of those had as much story and character as any work by Ibsen or Shakespeare. Playts produced at the College recently include the works of the Greeks, Harold Pinter, Lillian August Strindberg, Athol Fugard, Paula Vogel, Playwright-in-Residence Constance Congdon and Lanford Wilson-all highly esteemed across the theatrical world. We've produced two adaptations of Shakespeare plays, one where the only revisions were cuts to reduce the running time and to speed up the pace. If that's not a range of productions, what is?
The second common assumption is that the faculty exerts a heavy influence on the choices of productions. Yes, when a production corresponds to an academic course, the idea generally originates with a faculty member. Other than these exceptions, all of our shows are theses. There is no set theme or genre-every production is tailor- made by a student based on his or her own interests. Rumors have circulated about faculty refusing certain plays. It's true that censorship sometimes happens if faculty feel a script is too difficult for an undergraduate to handle. We'd also like to add that such refusal is rare-we didn't even see a discouraging frown last year.
The next myth concerns the resources devoted to each production. A typical department production involves a minimum of three-and-a-half credits, more if it's a multi-thesis or class project. To refuse to allow students the means to develop their talent (or learn its limits) would defeat the point of having an academic department at all. You need a certain amount of time and money to create theater magic. Shoestring theater can be entertaining, but no one doing it would turn down monetary donations. In terms of rehearsal time, 150 hours is fairly standard for productions anywhere. When the lives of students-who can only rehearse a few hours every evening-are considered, you need about eight weeks. Theater and dance department productions aren't doing anything unusual here.
The idea of rehearsal time translates directly into the fourth misconception. Rehearsing a play and building a set takes space. When our production manager schedules the season, he considers what is physically present in a given theater each week. You can't put a new set onstage until you're finished with the old one. The actors and director need time to adjust to the size and spatial layout of the set. Labor is also a concern. Only two men work full-time creating every set and prop piece with limited, untrained student help. As it stands, the production calendar taxes the Scene Shop's abilities. External projects rarely ask for extensive sets, but any production necessitates work. The only time department spaces are "empty" is at the beginning of the fall semester and during finals. No extracurricular performance can perform then either.
Accusations that the theater and dance department discourages non-academic performances are also inaccurate. It has allowed Amherst Dance, Amherst Cabaret and a few other individuals to use its spaces, lent lights and costumes to Cabaret and music department productions, paid students to provide technical support for projects and rescued at least two shows from being shut down. Like other departments, it has supported extracurricular work with discretionary money. A senior project, amherst works, exists to connect non-departmental projects with the resources not in use by theses and class projects. Faculty members, especially the current Chair, enthusiastically believe that students should have the opportunity to learn how to create on their own. Of course, as faculty members, their first priority is to teach classes and concentrate on the department productions, not to mentor other projects. An advisor specific to extracurricular theater and dance would be a wonderful asset, but should work from a non-academic setting like the campus center or student services.
Probably the most debated of our six points is the issue of dance. It is unfortunate that on-campus dance classes are limited. More of them would be appreciated, but competition for faculty positions, available studio space and limited class meeting times all contribute to what the department can offer. We are also disappointed that the Five College system is not as convenient as admissions makes it sound. However, students at the other schools also travel to study. People who want to extensively study astronomy or international relations also have to enroll in multiple Five College courses. Amherst is a small college and will never accommodate the interests of every single student. It's part of what we accepted when we matriculated, whether we knew it or not.
The confusion about theater and dance at Amherst should improve once dorm renovations create performance and rehearsal spaces. Until then, however, the fine line between academic and non-academic theater and dance blurs under the weight of very limited alternatives. In the future, we hope that the department will find a way to publicly communicate its objectives as an educational system and that non-majors will take the time to listen carefully. Theater and dance, curricular and extracurricular, will be more fun for everyone that way.