Saint Michael's College Theatre Department

This fall, Saint Michael's Theatre Department is producing Crimes of the Heart, a dark comedy by Beth Henley. It performs in the beginning of November and, as always here at St. Mike's, admission is free.

I'll write more about the play itself when we get closer to showtime. For now, an update on the production side of things and a look at how St. Michael's College gets things done. While over the summer the professional summer stock company St. Michael's Playhouse hires interns and professionals to design and create the set, props, and costumes, during the school year the academic shows work a little differently.

We have one professor in charge of all elements technical (excepting costumes): John Devlin, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, and my advisor. During the school year, he supervises several lab classes in the scene shop made up of students who come in, often knowing nothing about carpentry or lighting, to work for credit. He is also usually the scenic and lighting designer on the mainstage performances, unless a competent student is interested in designing. There are also design and history classes available with John. For an update on the scenic elements of Crimes of the Heart, please visit the department blog.

Peter Harrigan, Professor of Fine Arts and head of the Theatre Department, usually undertakes costumes for the mainstage productions, which involves a lab setup similar to the scene shop lab, only with costumes. He also teaches costume crafts, theatre history, and intro. to theatre. Every other semester, Peter directs the mainstage production, and this semester he is the director for Crimes of the Heart.

Another professor in the Theatre Department is Cathy Hurst, Professor of Fine Arts. She teaches acting, directing, and several specialty courses in both of those fields, in addition to directing every other mainstage season (alternating with Peter). Cathy also spends a lot of time with her duties as the Co-Chair of the New England region for ACTF, the American College Theatre Festival, a big event in January that colleges send students to every year. Plans and preliminary rehearsals for the spring mainstage, APP-etite, are underway as well.

As you can imagine, our faculty has a lot on their plates! This power trio produces two mainstage productions every year, one per semester. I've noted throughout my time here that other places do more shows, probably a result of more faculty members and greater funds. Cathy, John, and Peter have to work extremely hard as it is to give each of us a personal learning experience, not to mention put in extensive time in rehearsal, production meetings, and labor for each of the productions.

Other theatre opportunities at Saint Michael's College include getting involved with the Drama Club, which hosts numerous events, trips, and performances throughout the year, including a 24-hour play festival, a mentor program, and most currently a haunted house! Also coming up, auditions for the directing class scenes this Friday: anyone can try out and the rehearsals are less intensive than the mainstage schedule. There are also classes offered through the English department: Shakespeare, First-Year Seminar Drama & Culture, and more!