Four theater students are exploring their abilities as directors for their Honors Capstone projects this semester.
According to the Texas State website, the Honors College requires a capstone project that allows Honors students to explore their interests independently to demonstrate skills for employers and graduate schools. Students working on Honors Capstone projects develop their ideas with the help of capstone supervisors.
“I wanted to do [my project] with the Honors College and have this be my capstone project… because I also wanted to use it as a good educational tool because I’m going to be a future theatre educator,” Alyssa Rodriguez, theatre education junior, said. “I’m a firm believer that theater is a powerful educational tool to use.”
Alyssa Rodriguez
Rodriguez will direct “Reasons to be Pretty” by Neil LaBute for her project with performance dates on Feb. 28-March 2 in Lampasas Hall. According to Rodriguez, the story tackles how women are affected by beauty standards and how men play a role in reinforcing the standards.
“[Reasons to be Pretty] was a show that needed to be told,” Rodriguez said. “Texas State has done a great job of selecting plays that have talked about diversity and inclusion, but I’ve noticed that in the past few years, there has been not as much talk of beauty standards.”
Rodriguez said she is grateful to have a platform to express the issues concerning beauty standards.
“I feel like it’s such an issue that people don’t necessarily really think about because it’s not as pressing,” Rodriguez said. “But it’s something that everyone has grown up with, especially women. I remember being so young and already knowing about beauty standards and how a girl has to look a certain way to be considered pretty.”
Tickets for “Reasons to be Pretty” are available on the Texas State Presents website.
Abigail Thompson
Abigail Thompson, theatre performance and production senior, will direct “Karagula” by Philip Ridley. According to Thompson, the play takes place in a distant future U.S. and focuses on religion and political spaces.
“I went into this show with an unconventional idea that if every audience member left understanding everything about the show completely, then I will have failed,” Thompson said. “I want them to leave asking questions and thinking critically.”
“Karagula” will be performed on March 7-8 in Lampasas Hall. Thompson organized the performance in a way the audience can engage with the material.
“Every seat in the theater is getting a different visual [of the performance],” Thompson said. “I’m also putting in different visual things like little Easter eggs and stuff for the audience, and then I’m gonna be hosting a talk-back afterward to talk to the audience and hear their questions.”
Shelby Breda
Shelby Breda, theatre performance and production senior, will study the effects of immersive theater with the play “Bright Half Life” by Tanya Barfield. According to Breda, the story is about two queer women and their journey with love.
“Immersive theater… involves the audience in a way that I had never, ever seen before,” Breda said. “I just realized I could take a play that I already know, that’s already non-linear, and break it up and have the audience go from room to room.”
The performance will take place in various rooms in Lampasas Hall. After the first scene, the audience can go to different rooms and choose which scenes to watch in any order. The performances will take place March 28-30.
“Immersive theater has the potential to capture audiences who have never had anything to do with theater before,” Breda said. “Finding new ways to present theater to audiences can interest them, and it has the potential to interest [new] people.”
Meagan Majors
Meagan Majors, acting senior, will perform a devised theater piece called “Loggerhead Ruse,” a collaborative performance without a script. The show will be interactive with audience members actively making choices to progress the story and will be performed April 6-13.
“I want [the audience] to be a little fearful and realize, ‘Oh, my choices do have stakes,'” Majors said. “The idea is to make it like a real-life video game… very specific moments hit based on audience decisions.”
“Loggerhead Ruse” will contain improvisation scenarios that guide the plot of the story. Majors’ version of the show will be futuristic and apocalyptic.
“I also want [the audience] to feel a lot of adrenaline,” Majors said. “I want them to feel like that just went by and now we’re at the end.”
To stay up to date on performance dates and ticket sales, visit https://txstatepresents.universitytickets.com/w/calendar.aspx.
