TheatreVCU exclusivity unfair to the passionate

Cory Johnson
Guest Columnist

TheatreVCU Mainstage auditions are typically all-inclusive, allowing anyone at VCU a chance at the spotlight.

But the recent exclusion of non-theater majors from participating in the Stand-Up Comedy Show this spring broke that tradition.

Where the department has every right to be selective in their casting, blocking non-majors from a show that has no reflection in the theater curriculum is unfair to students whose ambition for comedy doesn’t come with a major in performing arts.

The Stand-Up Comedy show has been scheduled since last spring, and student comedians finally could have had the chance to share their love with VCU, but instead of pulling from past stand-up comedy class students, the theater department has embraced a self-serving policy.

This year, for the Stand-up Comedy Show, guest artist Stephen Rosenfield was brought in to give students the opportunity to work with someone from outside the department. He had a few stipulations though: He would only accept 14 to 16 comedians, they had to be novices, and the department wasn’t to hold auditions.

When asked why only theater majors were allowed to sign up, Josh Chenard, head of performance for TheatreVCU, said that it was to provide an opportunity for students who have not had the chance to try stand-up but are passionate about it, and that, although the comedy-class students had time to develop, the guest artist is looking for fresh talent.

While TheatreVCU has every right to withhold positions at the stipulations of a guest artist, the reasoning behind this decision isn’t considerate and doesn’t equal the outcome. A hierarchy was used to decide who made the set list – first by year, then by experience – but some of the students are outliers in this aspect.

[sws_pullquote_right] “While there are may students in the stand-up comedy show who are trying something new, these are the ones who are trying for the same reason non-theater majors do: love.” [/sws_pullquote_right] The idea of limited acceptance should not be new to a program that selects 10 new students out of hundreds that audition. If accepting a theater major that is part of the comedy community is acceptable, why not open one spot for a non-major in a similar situation when there are 16 possible openings?

The argument can be made that the included students are allowed the opportunity because the theater department is paying for it; they are theater majors and therefore deserving.

But who is more deserving of professional comedy instruction than those who use their spare time ambling about the art of comedy without guidance, yearning to tap into their full potential?
These excluded students have a passion to go out of their way to be a part of something that is not practiced for their studies, but for their love, only to be excluded by the university they fund.

The theater department held meetings to discuss handling Rosenfield’s wishes, but settled on something that alienates the people who truly love the craft, asking them to pay for something of which they could be a part, but ultimately were denied because of their choice of major and the degree with which they will graduate.

While there are many students in the Stand-Up Comedy Show who are trying something new, these are the ones who are trying for the same reason non-theater majors do: love.

In its decision, TheatreVCU showed uncaring to the desires of a group who only had one class at VCU to explore their love. Bending its rules with a bias, it focused on the numbers and titles of the situation instead of what truly matters: the students’ passion.