Endgame, Charlotte’s Web, Animals Out of Paper, Moby Dick, and Henry IV Part I: all of these productions were put up at Northwestern by various theatre boards over the weekend of May 2 and 3. If you managed to catch any of them, chances are you spent half the time enjoying the production of your choice, and the other half sorely wishing you could watch all the others without burning a hole in your pocket.
Spring Quarter is a prolific time for Northwestern theatre, with both independent projects and the spring shows of the numerous student boards making their debut. This flourishing student theatre scene no doubt makes the Northwestern student theatre-goer spoilt for choice, but trying to attend multiple productions a weekend becomes an expensive hobby.
“Five dollars for theatre isn’t that much, but when there are this many shows every weekend, it definitely adds up,” says Communication sophomore Tristan Chiruvolu. “That’s something I don’t think about, but by the end of the quarter I realize how much money I’ve spent on the shows I’ve been seeing on the weekend, and it’s crazy.”
Chiruvolu, the production manager of WAVE Productions, also produced Jewish Theatre Ensemble’s spring show Animals Out of Paper. The sheer number of shows going on that weekend made him anxious about audience numbers, he says. Although the house ended up full almost every night, “I didn’t expect it because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Our publicity was also kind of on the down low, and it was a very busy weekend.”
Ben Hwang, publicity director of the Jones show, Endgame, agrees. “It was funny because every single board had at least a gajillion posters and so many flyers on it already,” he says. “So even just putting flyers up was a challenge, because the boards were so filled up.”
Tickets to Endgame were sold at the door, and for the first two nights, people stopped buying tickets earlier that he expected, says Hwang. Endgame took in a total of $350 from ticket sales, compared to the $970 spent to put on the production. The annual Jones show receives a $1,000 grant to cover expenses.
“I do like that there are so many choices offered to Northwestern students. It is cool that there are that many shows although I can’t make all of them, and I can see why someone who has no experience putting on a show or watching shows might feel overwhelmed,” he adds.
Northwestern Student Theatre Coalition, or StuCo, is very much aware of this happy problem. The eight student theatre groups in the coalition decided in Winter Quarter to scale back the number of shows in their 2014-2015 seasons. WAVE Productions, for instance, will cut down from four mainstage shows to three, says Chiruvolu.
Although this decision can prevent theatre boards from spreading themselves too thinly, putting on a large number of shows still benefits the college theatre scene as a whole, says theatre assistant professor David Catlin, a founding ensemble member of the award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company. Catlin also adapted and directed Moby Dick, which ran from April 25 to May 4.
“It’s tough from a competition perspective, but it can also be positive,” says Catlin. “If you see one show and you like it, you might want to go see other shows.” This enlarges the theatre-going population at Northwestern, contributing to a spirit of community that ultimately benefits all productions, he says.
“That sense of community enriches. We are competing for audience members and funding dollars but in the big, big picture, you have a place where actors can work, practice their craft and get better,” says Catlin.
This is especially important for a college theatre scene with aspiring thespians who are "not being reviewed by the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune or Variety," says Catlin. Indeed, while no theatre board wants to lose money on a production, or perform on opening night to an empty venue, Northwestern students are still getting the invaluable opportunity to make good art in a supportive environment. And even if the results aren't as ideal as hoped, look to Endgame playwright Samuel Beckett for words of wisdom: "Try again. Fail again. Fail better."