South ready to showcase black, women’s history

Theater Practicum students rehearse for the upcoming Actor’s Showcase that includes poetry, skits, dance and more. Photo by: Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian
Theater Practicum students rehearse for the upcoming Actor’s Showcase that includes poetry, skits, dance and more.
Photo by: Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian

By Martin Paredes/south news editor

Stress, nervousness, confidence and excitement are some of the prominent emotions of the South Theater Practicum class in advance of its Actor’s Showcase Feb. 19-21.
Theater director Lindy Benton-Muller said students chose either poems or short stories to perform in the show.

“It’s all bits and pieces that students have chosen and we are putting together to present as a show,” Benton said.

With roughly 20 students to work with, Benton explained how they all play their part.

“For them, it’s at whatever level they feel comfortable being involved in,” Benton said.

“Some people are becoming assistant directors, where they are responsible for different scenes or different aspects of the show. Others just want to be a fly on the wall and learn, which is totally fine.”

The Actor’s Showcase draws influences from Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March.

“I’ve tried to choose material that my colleagues could maybe send their students to come see that would apply to either one of those or hopefully both,” she said.

Benton also said that this type of show is a very foreign concept to many of her students, which is what makes it an invaluable learning experience.

“They are able to step out of the role of only being actors in the show to learning a little bit about everything that goes into putting on a show,” she said.

The starting process of the showcase caught some of the students a bit off guard.
“We just basically brought a bunch of tables together and threw ideas out at each other,” said light-coordinator-turned-actor Jimmy Linch.

One actress explained the process of how they all came up with ideas the first day.

“We were scrolling through phones, going through books. It was just fast and furious,” said Maya Angelou enthusiast Jasmine Ingram.

Scott Wild, one of the guitar players, felt that finding “where everything fits in” is one of the most tasking parts of the process.

Linch and Ingram also feel that structure is key.

“It’s constantly changing,” Linch said. “We still have some ideas that we’re not sure we’re going to use. We don’t know if we’re going to be adding to the show or taking away from it.”

Ingram, despite all the uncertainty, was confident everything would work out.

“I don’t even know what it’s going to look like when it’s done, but I just know it’s going to be amazing,” she said.

Benton and her students want audiences to feel inspired, empowered and emotional after the showcase.

“I want my audience to see themselves up there and know that they’re represented and that they could do this too,” she said. “I want them to look up on the stage and see somebody that looks like them, somebody that is them … not something that is lofty and far away,” she said.

Actress Shae Morin wants the audience to realize that they can do great things.

“As college students, we get overlooked because we haven’t learned everything we need to learn, and sometimes people underestimate the impact we can have on our society and on the world around us,” she said. “By putting this show literally in the hands of a bunch of college students, the audience is able to walk away knowing that they are somebody and not only that they are somebody, but that they are somebody that’s super important.”

Ingram wants people to leave talking about the show and attain a greater respect and love for theater.

“You never get the same thing twice with theater.” She said. “You can go see the same show 50 times, and there will be something different every time. That’s what I love about theater.”

Actor’s Showcase
7:30 p.m. Feb. 19-21, South Campus

Admission:
Free for students, faculty and staff
$3 for other students or senior citizens
$6 for the general public.

Tickets will be sold on the day of the performance at the box office from 7 p.m. to showtime, and there will be no late seating.