For a boatload of Spartans, it was a successful adventure.
Theatre 232 — the annual summer collaboration between Triad Stage, a professional theatre in downtown Greensboro, and UNCG Theatre — provided not only three plays for area theatre-goers to enjoy.
It offered not only a summer boost to downtown Greensboro's nightlife.
It ensured a wealth of experience to UNCG'’s theatre students.
UNCG adjunct theatre professor Preston Lane wrote and directed “Bloody Blackbeard,” the summer's premiere production. UNCG alumna Laurelyn Dossett, who received her master's in 1999, composed the music. A number of professors were involved — from vocal dialect coaching to lighting design to fight choreography.
About 20 UNCG theatre students were a part of “Bloody Blackbeard,” onstage and behind the scenes. Ten of the 19 cast members were UNCG students.
In addition, Theatre 232 produced the children's play “Redbeard's Revenge” and the late-night comedy “Mere Mortals,” all in repertory.
Theatre department head James Fisher stressed the value for the students. Each summer, Theatre 232 allows the students to see firsthand how professionals work.
The experience is priceless.
One evening before the productions began, three students rehearsed a surreal scene where they are captured by pirates. A majority of the pirates circling the three students were professional actors.
Seniors Marvin Riggins Jr. and Isabelle Gardo and graduate student Josh Yoder matched the intensity and concentration the seasoned actors brought to their craft.
Riggins said afterward that he was in all three plays, as were the other students. The biggest challenge, he said, was simply “jumping into it.”
Rehearsals the next day would be from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In the morning Yoder could be spotted in Tate Street Coffee House, getting his morning brew on the way to rehearsal. Another day to gain experience beside professional actors and to refine his acting chops.
A summer on the theatrical high seas, doing what you love — who could ask for more?
When the curtain closed on the repertory season, Gardo looked back on all she'd learned.
“This has really taught me that I need to trust my instincts and my training, make bold choices and have confidence in them,” she said. Bringing original characters to life, while working alongside professional actors who were doing the same from the first read-through, was literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“These characters are my creations — no other actor will perform them in just the same way.”
For additional information about alumna Laurelyn Dossett and how the music for “Bloody Blackbeard” came together, visit here.
In visual: UNCG senior BFA acting major Isabelle Gardo in a scene with Blackbeard, played by professional actor Mark David Watson.
By Mike Harris, University Relations
Photo courtesy NyghtFalcon Photography ©2008
