Hello membership!
For those of you who missed the voting period or news about our 3rd General Meeting (and shame on you), here is our Spring 2015 Season:
The Laramie Project (Charity Show), by Moises Kaufman, directed by Aryeh Harris-Shapiro
Private Lives, by Noel Coward, directed by Joseph McLaughlin
Hail Satan!, by Mac Rogers, directed by Kyle Tague
(Note: the above season order is not final.)
However! Our season is not yet complete. In addition to three mainstages, the executive board is restarting an old Stage Troupe tradition: the staged or semi-staged reading, which will go up in the Student Theater. For those unaware, a staged/semi-staged reading refers to a performance of a play without advanced technical elements. This means the production will have a directing team, a cast, a producing team, and a stage management team - but nothing else. It will be up to the directing team if there will be blocking or simple-to-acquire props, hence "semi-staged." The show will also not be memorized and will be performed with scripts in-hand, hence "reading."
There are many advantages to reintroducing the staged reading. It will provide expanded acting opportunities without putting additional stress on our current technical resources - it is in essence a "fourth show" without a crew. By not including technical elements, we have the special opportunity to put on a play that would not otherwise be possible in our Student Theater space (something to keep in mind when selecting a play to pitch). Does your favorite show require a three-story set or expansive fire effects? This may be a great opportunity to see it performed! In addition, by distilling the performance down to exclusively acting and performance, this show will have a unique opportunity to forge an intense, focused director-actor relationship and deep exploration of the chosen text.
Interested in pitching? Great! Download the "Staged Reading Pitch Form" (which will be available under "Forms & Resources" shortly), fill it out, and email the completed form along with a .pdf copy of the script to our president, Abi Oshins, at aoshins@bu.edu. The pitch deadline is December 3rd at 5 PM. Following that deadline, pitches and directing teams will be announced on this blog. On December 7th, following the 4th General Meeting and Space Cleaning, we will have a "town hall meeting" in which directing teams will briefly describe their show and vision and how it would work as a staged reading. Interested members may offer their thoughts and concerns. Following this meeting, the executive board will collectively make a selection to be posted later that evening.
Keep in mind the executive board is looking for a show that will translate well to a staged reading. In addition, we look favorably upon shows that have robust cast sizes and reasonable gender ratios. (Keep in mind we currently only have an 18-actor season for our mainstages). Finally, consider pitching a show that is well-established and has good public awareness: a staged reading can be a hard sell, and we want people to see and enjoy our work. A more established work will more likely draw an audience.
Interested in acting in this staged reading? Auditions will be held one week following main stage auditions next semester. Actors cast in a main stage are asked to not audition in order to give the rest of our acting base additional opportunities.
That's about it. Have questions, comments, concerns? Feel free to email stage@bu.edu or raise them at any open executive board meeting (Sundays at 6 PM). Have great weeks!
