School of the Arts lets students take charge

Two productions will demonstrate the capacity
of the VCU student body to produce professionalquality
work this weekend.

Theatre VCU is presenting “Terra Nova,” a student-
produced, -directed and -managed play. Two
blocks away, the VCU Department of Dance and
Choreography is performing “Natural Patterns,”
the first ever dance concert entirely produced,
directed and adjudicated by students.

Students’ playhouse

Director Paul Wurth’s final directing performance
credit will be acquired sitting at the helm
of “Terra Nova,” a play written by Ted Tally about
a race to Antarctica in 1911 by five Englishmen
trying to beat their Norwegian rivals.

“(The audience) will be horrified and mesmerized
at the same time just watching the camaraderie
amongst these men through this journey that they
take,” Wurth said.

Wurth praised the independence of the student
effort the Shafer Street Playhouse stimulates.

“The faculty tends to keep to themselves over
in the Performing Arts Center while Shafer is
regarded as the student theater. The crew is all
students. The faculty has pretty much nothing to
do with the play except for enforcing the rules
and regulations, which we’re all required to abide
by,” Wurth said.

Wurth said his experience working with the
students has proven invaluable.

“They’ve been great. We’ve got all ages and
classes working on this project,” Wurth said. “I’ve
worked with the same group of people for the past
two shows. They’ve worked really hard.”

When asked about how all this time and experience
has served the students, Wurth explained
how far they’ve come as a group.

“We’ve kind of started our own little company.
We’re definitely looking forward to bigger and
better things together,” Wurth said.

“Terra Nova” by Ted Tally runs from Thursday,
Feb. 21, to Sunday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. at the
Shafer Street Playhouse. Admission is free to the
public.

“Natural Patterns” empowers dancers

The dance department is presenting “Natural
Patterns,” a student-produced show that is a first
for the dance department.

“It’s the first ever VCU-produced concert by
students in the dance department,” said Danielle
Currica, committee production director for the event.

“A panel of two representatives from each class chose the
concert pieces. It features student choreography chosen by a
student panel,” Currica said.

The show presented new challenges to the students who suddenly
found themselves immersed in the production process.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever been given the opportunity to run
our own show. We voted to put the adjudication panel together
without faculty inclusion. We had to market it ourselves,” Currica
said. “We had to basically build everything from the ground
up. We had to come up with ideas and learn the choreography
selection process.”

Casey Royer, committee scheduling director and choreographer,
said not everything has been a walk in the park.

“I think the biggest issue wasn’t so much performing the tasks
but figuring out what we were responsible for and what the faculty
advisors for the committee were responsible for.”

Royer said both students and faculty had issues with the
transfer of power.

“It’s been rough since we’re the first ones to go through it.
Both the students and the faculty were trying to figure it out at
the same time,” Royer said.

The process is exciting for everyone involved, said Royer, who
eagerly awaits next year’s student-produced performance. She
was constructively critical of this year’s process.

“I think we could’ve done more with press and now we know.
What’s great about it is that because there are sophomores on
the committee, hopefully those same people will be able to take
what we’ve done this year and take it one step further and make
it even better,” Royer said.

Both committee members said they are proud of their peers
and how they’ve handled the production of the show.

“Just to be able to show their work and have it supported by
their peers is huge,” Currica said.

“It’s a chance to show how strong our choreography is,”
Royer said.