Month of January

It’s January, which means it is Explorations term at Birmingham-Southern College.  During this period, students take a class on things like knitting, yoga or the 1960's; travel abroad; take part in a service-learning project; participate in an off-campus internship; or contract their own classes.  However, in this time of typical leisure, the theatre only has one thing on its mind: to produce a show in three weeks.

In order to understand what this means, you first must know that the average time allotted to get a show on its feet is about 11 weeks, and we do it by dedicating every day of January to getting this show on the road.   

When I say every day in the month of January, I mean it.  You will find everyone in the theatre every week day from 9:30am-5:30pm and every Saturday from 1:30pm-5:30pm working hard to get everything done.  It is an intense month-long process filled with set building, costume construction, props gathering, line memorizing and daily rehearsals.  During the morning period, everyone works on their assigned crew position and every afternoon those who are in the show rehearse.  Without the hard work and discipline of everyone in the company, the show would be impossible. 

“Given the long hours of work, is this experience even worth it?” you might ask, but even as I write this, sitting in the greenroom drinking my fourth cup of coffee, I say yes.  Must you give up the opportunity to take it easy for the month of January?  Yes.  However, you gain the opportunity to really push yourself and develop discipline.  I’m not going to lie, the month long process is challenging and difficult, but the payoff is grand.  Whether you are a designer, actor, or crew member, it is exciting to see your hard work come to fruition during the four performances at the end of the month.  By the sheer fact that you gave up so much of your time makes it more special.  It is same feeling you get when you save up all your money to buy that one thing you want more than anything.  When you finally get it, there is no way you will ever take it for granted.

 Another aspect that makes the interim worth your time is the relationships you build with the company.  Being a part of the company is like going on a long road trip.  You are with these people all day, every day.  It is as if we are all in one giant bus travelling together to reach a faraway place.  They become some of your closest friends and confidants.  This experience forces everyone to work together to get to our final destination and reach our many goals.  This takes trust and patience.  Through solving problems and completing tasks, this experience teaches us the skills to work with each other, a skill relatable to many areas of life.  

Assistant Director, Hillary Brown, and Stage Manager, Robbie Hindsman

Set crew working hard to complete the set

Light Designer, Shea Glenn, tending to her light plot 

Actor and Set Builder, Kelsey Shipley, caught on her way down to the scene shop!