When Tyler Mitchell started his senior year at Furman, he was looking for a challenge.
\nHis theatre professors were happy to give him one: a chance to direct a full-length play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage students to take on projects that may be beyond their current skill level,\u201d said theatre arts professor Jay Oney \u201878. \u201cYou have to start somewhere. You can\u2019t direct the best actors in the world having never directed before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell is the latest in a long line of theatre arts students who has taken their turn in the director\u2019s chair. The theatre arts department holds three major productions each academic year that are led by faculty. However, the department also stages a variety of all-student productions so that students can get a taste of what it\u2019s like to take on a leadership role.<\/p>\n
Mitchell became interested in directing when he took a course on the subject. After directing a pair of 10-minute films, he chose \u201cBeautiful Child\u201d by the American playwright Nicky Silver for his first attempt at directing a full-length play. After three months of rehearsals, Mitchell had one weekend in November to show the world what he could do. He was in charge of five actors as well as three designers and managers.<\/p>\n
To make things even more difficult, Mitchell chose a play that deals with a difficult subject matter: pedophilia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose \u2018Beautiful Child\u2019 because it deals with issues of desire that aren\u2019t typically considered in theatre or general discourse,\u201d Mitchell \u201813 said. \u201cThere are only five characters and they\u2019re all very different. So that provided a difficult range of directing and acting, but it gave me a chance to work individually with the actors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell was responsible for finding and supervising classmates who would handle every facet of the performance, from costume and set design to stage management and publicity. However, his largest task was getting the performance he wanted out of his actors, many of whom were new to the craft.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy directing style is definitely evolving,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cI\u2019m more likely to get up and move around and talk with actors, which has been helpful since I\u2019ve had new actors in this play. Doing acting exercises with them and reminding them how the body is part of acting has been particularly effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though the play was Mitchell\u2019s vision, he had to balance being both a director and peer. His classmates understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re friends, but I have to remember Tyler\u2019s the boss,\u201d said Lizzie Dockery \u201816 (Dallas, Texas), who acted in the play. \u201cIt\u2019s really cool the students are taking responsibility for the show. So if it\u2019s a flop, it\u2019s on us. You want to do your best for your friends so your show will reflect well on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
So did Mitchell meet his challenge?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe play went fairly well,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cThe educational experience was useful. There were some things I felt could have gone better, but you learn as much from your failures as you do from your success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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